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SYNOPSIS 



POPERY 



AS IT WAS 



AS IT IS. 



By WILLIAM HOGAN, Esq., 

FORMERLY ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST. 



BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY SAXTON & KELT 
NEW YORK: SAXTON & MILES. ^. • 

PHILADELPHIA: G. B. ZJEBER & CO. 

18 4 5. 



OF*CONGKc.SS 
WASmNGTON 



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Entered according to Act of Coagress, in the year 1845, by 
In tlie Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



LC Control Number 



li 



tinp96 028021 




PREFACE. 



In submitting the following pages to the public, I can 
say, with truth, that I ana actuated by no other motive 
than a sincere desire to promote the interest, and con- 
tribute all in my power to perpetuate the free institutions, 
of this, my adopted country. 

It is many years since I have had any intercourse or 
connection with the church or priests of Rome ; and I 
vainly imagined that, after the first outbreak of their 
animosity, for repudiating their doctrines, it would suc- 
ceed into a calm indifference. I was aware of the cus- 
tom, in that church, to defame and calumniate all who 
*' went out from her;" but especially those who have 
held any distinguished position. 

Against such, appeals are immediately made to the peo- 
ple by their priests, until, finally, maddened by sophistry, 
fanaticism, and falsehoods, they look upon the seceder as 
one whom it is their duty to destroy ; and in whose word, 
honor, and virtue, no confidence is to be reposed. The 
object of the Romish church, in this, cannot be mistaken. 
It is too plain to escape even the least observant eye. A 
lawyer who can render legally valueless the testimony of 
opposing witnesses, seldom fails in establishing his case ; 
and hence it is that the Romish church never fails to de- 
stroy, if she can, the credibility of all who break loose from 



PREFACE 



her, knowing them to be the best witnesses of her imquities. 
But for some jears back, and until recently, the riolence 
of Popish priests against myself seemed to slumber. 
This was natural. In the body ecclesiastic, as well as in 
the natural body, a morbid excitement often succeeds a 
stupor; and recently these gentlemen have assailed me 
again. To apparent indifference, succeeded a frantic 
zeal ; and from one end of this continent to the other, 
they have tried to injure me, by appeals to the public 
through their presses, and especially through the con- 
fessional. All this I would have disregarded, as usual, 
but I find that these priests have become politicians, and 
that every blow aimed at me, for the free exercise of my 
judgment as to the best mode of worshipping God, is 
aimed at the constitution of my adopted country, which 
grants this blessing, without let or hindrance, to all the 
children of men. 

Well aware that Americans are not acquainted with 
the desigiis of Popery against their country and its insti- 
tutions, I feel it my duty to lay before them the following 
pages. The perusal of them will satisfy every American 
that our country is in danger, not so much from enemies 
abroad as from foes within. They will find that Papists 
have reduced political, as well as religious corruption, to 
a system, and are, at this moment, practising it amongst 
us, upon a great and gigantic scale. 



THE FOLLOWING PAGES 



RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 



4.MERICAN REPUBLICANS, - 



THE AUTHOR. 



SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 



When this country renounced its allegiance to 
the British crown, and proclaimed itself independent, 
Popery was on the wane in Europe ; it was there 
getting more sickly, more languid and feeble, until 
it had little more than a mere nominal existence ; 
but while its blossoms were fading, its thorns 
retained their vitality, inflicting pains and wounds 
on all who came in contact with them. The 
Jesuits, one of the most influential orders of friars 
belonging to the Roman church, continued still 
active as ever in their fiendish avocations ; they 
roamed about, like so many gnomes, from country 
to country, and from people to people, carrying 
with them, and strewing on their paths, the seeds 
of moral death on all that was precious and valu- 
able in the social system. Whatever they touched 
was blighted ; whatever they said or preached 
breathed treachery ; wherever they went, vice, 
crime, and duplicity marked their track. But dark 
as the times were then, enshrouded as they had 
been in ignorance, and idolatrous as the people 
were, they began to manifest some dissatisfaction 
at the machinations of Jesuits in their eff'orts to 
acquire temporal power. They began to feel it in 



8 SYNAPSIS OF POPERY, 

the loss of their property, out of which they too late 
saw themselves gradually swindled ; they felt it ia 
the loss of their liberty and civil rights, out of 
which they had been persuaded, all for the good 
OF THE CHURCH. Eudurauce became mtolerable, 
and those unhallowed agents had to be partially 
suppressed. 

The Popish church, at this time, seeing the 
influence of her most active agents gradually 
diminishing, her ancient glories fading, and her 
power vanishing from her grasp ; and scarcely 
able to breathe any longer in the putrid atmos- 
phere which her own corruption and impurities 
had created, very naturally turned her eyes to- 
wards this brilliant new world. It was then 
young and beautiful ; it abounded in all the luxu- 
ries of nature ; it promised all that was desirable to 
man. The holy chqrch, seeing these irresistible 
temptations, thirsting with avarice, and yearning 
for the reestablishment of her falling greatness, 
soon commenced pouring in among its unsuspect- 
ing people hordes of Jesuits and other friars, with 
a view of forming among them institutions which 
were already found to be destructive to the peace 
and morals of all social and religious principles in 
Europe. We now see Popish colleges, and nun- 
neries, and monastic institutions, springing up in 
our hitherto happy republic ; and, if similar causes 
continue, as they have ever done, to produce 
similar eflfects, it needs no prophet's eye to see, 
nor inspired 'tongue to tell, what the consequences 
must be to posterity. Many suppose that Popery 
has been modified ; that it is different now from 
what it was in ancient times ; that the spirit which 
actuated Papists in those dark days ceases to influ- 
ence them now that the facr2:ot. the rack, and vari- 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. y 

ou^ Other modes of torture, are not still in use in the 
Roman church, and that it has long ceased to lay 
claim, by divine right, to temporal sovereignty, or to 
any otlier of those prerogatives which they formerly 
insisted upon. There are some so fastidiously liberal 
as to grant them all immunities which may be with 
safety granted to other sects ; others there are, so 
patriotic as to hold at defiance all their power; 
and others so self-conceited as to fancy themselves 
an over-match even for Jesuits, in religious chi- 
canery and pohtical intrigue. 

All this arises, not from want of true zeal in 
American Protestants, but because they are unac- 
quainted with the canons of the Romish church. 
These canons are inaccessible to the majority of 
the American people, even of theologians, and with 
the purport and meaning of them none but those 
who have been educated Roman Catholic priests 
have much or any acquaintance. I hesitate not to 
say — although I do so with the utmost respect 
and deference — that there are but few American 
theologians who have much acquaintance with the 
doctrines or canons of the Romish church. They 
form no part of their studies ; a knowledge of 
them is not necessary in the legitimate discharge 
of their pastoral duties ; and hence it is, that in 
many of their controversies with Romish priests, 
they are not unfrequently browbeaten, bullied, and 
often almost ignominiously driven from the arena 
of controversy by men who, in point of general 
information, virtue, piety, zeal, and scriptural 
knowledge, are greatly their inferiors. He who 
argues with Catholic priests must have had his 
education with them ; he must be of the^n and 
from among them. He must know, from expe- 
rience, that they will stop at no falsehood where 



10 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

the good of the church is concerned ; he must 
know that they will scruple at no forgery when 
they desire to establish any point of doctrine, 
fundamental or not fundamental, which is. taught 
by their church ; he must be aware that it is a 
standing rule with Popish priests, in all their con- 
troversies with Protestants, to admit nothing and 
deny every thing, and that, if still driven into diffi- 
culty, they will still have recourse to the archives 
of the church, where they keep piles of decretals,- 
canons, rescripts, bulls, excommunications, inter- 
dicts, &c., ready for all such emergencies; some of 
them dated from three hundred to a thousand 
years before they were written or even thought of ; 
showing more clearly, perhaps, than anything else, 
the extreme ignorance of mankind between the 
third and ninth centuries, when most of these 
forgeries were palmed upon the world. With the 
aid of these miserable forgeries, they attempt to 
prove, among other things, that the divine right of 
the Pope to the sovereignty of this world was 
acknowledged by the fathers of the church, in 
the earliest days of Christianity. 

There are to be found now, in the Vatican at 
Rome, canons and decretals which go to show 
that the Pope was considered ''equal to God," as 
early as the third century. More of these impious 
forgeries attempt to show that some of the most 
pious fathers of the church, in the days of her 
unquestioned sanctity and piety, acknowledged 
''Mary, the mother of Jesus, to be equal to -God 
the Son, and deserved supreme adoration." With 
these forged instruments, they attempt to show that 
the pi;imitive Christians believed in the real and 
actual presence of the whole body and blood of 
Christ, in the wafer which they call the Eucharist, 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. ll 

Monstrous, horrible, and impious, as these absurdi- 
ties are, I once believed them myself. So much 
for the prejudices of education. 

The object of the following pages is to show, 
first, the origin of Papal power ; secondly, to call 
the attention of Americans to its rapid growth in 
many of the nations of the earth ; and, thirdly, to 
put my fellow citizens on their guard against 
giving it any countenance or support within the 
limits of the United States. 



ORIGIN OF THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPE. 

We have no authentic evidence that the bishops 
or presbyters of the primitive Christian church 
laid claims to temporal power, much less to uni- 
versal sovereignty, such as Popes have arrogated to 
themselves, in subsequent times, even down to the 
present day. Constantine, as we are informed by 
the best authorities, was the first to unite civil and 
ecclesiastical power. He introduced Christianity 
among the Romans by civil authority. This oc- 
curred between the years 272 and 337; but never 
during his reign, nor before i*t, was there an in- 
stance of a bishop or presbyter of the church 
aspiring to temporal jurisdiction. They were poor 
and persecuted ; they were meek and humble ; 
they were well content with the privilege of 
worshipping God in peace. The instructions of 
their divine Master were fresh in their minds — 
they almost still rung in their ears. They felt 
that they were sent into the world with special 
instructions to •' preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture." Their heavenlv Master told them that his 



12 SYNOPSIS OF POPKRY, 

^^ kingdom was not of this world." They felt the 
full force of that high and holy admonition, ^'Ren- 
der to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to 
God the things that are God's." They cheerfully 
submitted lo the civil authorities. They claimed not 
the right of giving away kingdoms, crowning em- 
perors, deposing princes, and absolving their sub- 
jects from their oaths of allegiance. These pure 
Christians and devout men asked for no distinctions, 
but those of virtue and zeal in the cause of Christ ; 
they sought for no wealth but that of Heaven ; they 
desired no crown but that of glory; they sought 
no tiara save that of martyrdom ; they were sur- 
rounded by no court but that of the poor ; no col- 
lege of cardinals waited on their pleasure ; . there 
were no iiuiicios sent from their court ; no foreign 
ambassadors passed between them and the powers 
of this earth. The only court with which they 
had business to transact, and in which-' their treas- 
ures were laid up, was the court of Heaven ; and 
their only ambassadors at that court were the 
angels of heaven, sent forth to minister unto them. 
Bat this state of things did not last long. As a 
modern writer beautifully expresses it, ^- the trail 
of the serpent is over us all." The Emperor 
Constantine, seeing the poverty of the primitive 
church, — her vast and progressive increase in num- 
bers and the consequent demand upon her charities, 
— granted to her bishops permission to hold prop- 
erty, real and personal. This concession on the 
part of Constantine, simple and trifling as it seemed 
to be ; this commingling of the things of heaven 
and earth, was unnatural. It contained within 
itself the principles of dissolution, or rather of entire 
destruction: and became, in time, the source from 
which have sprung most of the wars, massacres, 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS, 13 

and bloody strifes, that have desolated and divided 
into fragmentary sections, the richest, the fairest, and 
the finest portions ol the globe, during the last fif- 
teen hundred years ; and will continue to do so, 
unto the end of time, unless the advance of civili- 
zation, and the great progress which the human 
mind has made in ethics, morals, and metaphysics, 
on this continent, puts an immediate check to 
Popish interference with the policy of our country. 
Could we suppose an individual, who knew 
nothing of ancient times ; who was an entire stran- 
ger to the darkness which pervaded Europe during 
the middle ages ; who had no acquaintance with 
the pretensions, arrogance and insolence of Roman 
pontiffs ; who knew no ottier constitution and no 
other laws but those of our own country ; he could 
not but feel surprised at being first told, that there 
now lived in Rome, an upstart ecclesiastic, called a 
" Pope^ who has the hardihood to assert that he is 
Sovereign Lord, and that too by divine right, of 
these United States, as well as of all other kingdoms 
of this world. He goes even further, and con- 
tends that his predecessors had similar divine 
rights, and that all the citizens and inhabitants of 
this country owed allegiance to him personally, and 
to no one else, unless delegated by him to receive 
it. But strange as this may appear, it is no less 
true, as I will show from authorities, which cannot 
be questioned, by those who claim such extravagant 
immunities. 

The Pope of Rome predicates his claim to uni- 
versal sovereignty upon the power of loosing and 
binding on earth and in heaven ; which, in the ex- 
uberance of their fancy, Roman Catholic writers 
contend was given to St. Peter. Their next step 
is to prove, that this supremacy was acknowledged 
2 



14 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

by the primitive fathers of the charch, and conse- 
quently their rights and claims are beyond dispute. 
But before I proceed to give any of the authori- 
ties, upon which Roman Catholic writers rest the 
antiquity of the recognition of their Pope's tem- 
poral power, it may not be amiss to inform the 
reader, that the very first on which they rely is one 
of the most unblushing forgeries on record; and is 
dated about six hundred years previous to the time 
at which it purports to have been written. It is 
taken from the words of a conveyance of certain 
temporal concessions, said to be made by the Em- 
peror Constantino to Pope Sylvester, some time 
between the second and third centuries. It is in 
the following words : 

^^ We attribute to the chair of St. Peter all impe- 
rial dignity, glory, and power. We give to Pope 
Sylvester, and to his successors, our palace of Late- 
ran, one of the finest palaces on earth ; we give him 
our crown, our mitre, our diadem, and all our im- 
perial vestments; we resign to him all our imperial 
dignity. We give the Holy Pontiff, as a free gift, 
the city of Rome, and all the western cities of 
Italy, as well as the western cities of other countries. 
To make room for him, we abdicate our sovereignty 
over all these provinces, and we withdraw from 
Rome, transferring the seat of our empire to Byzan- 
tium ; since it is not just that a terrestrial emperor 
shall retain any power where God has placed the 
head of the church." 

It would be a waste of time to show that no such 
donation as the above ever existed. No mention is 
made of it in any history of the Popes that has ever 
been written, or in any other document which had 
reference to them during the reign of Constantino. 
It is a forgery so shallow, unreal, and unsubstantial, 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 15 

that there is no well-educated historian, and never 
has been one, who gave it any credence. The his- 
torian Plewry pronounces it a falsehood ; and he, 
being a Roman Catholic, must be considered 
good authority upon all matters relating to the 
holy church. The quotation, however, from this 
supposed deed of ^concession, by Constantino to 
Pope Sylvester, is not without instruction to the 
citizens of this country. It should arouse them to 
a sense of the dangers which are hovering over 
them. It should remind them that every thing is 
perishable. The fairest flower must fade ; the love- 
liest lily must wither ; the laughing rose must droop ; 
even our fair republic may lose its bloom, and 
pass away. A state of things may arise in this 
country, when its executive may be a Papist, its ju- 
diciary Papists, and a majority of its population may 
be Papists. These things are not beyond the range 
of possibility ; and are you sure that your own de- 
scendants, and those of the pilgrim fathers, may not, 
one day or other, give this republic as a free gift to 
the head of the Papal church? You are now strong 
— so was Rome. Your power is now irresistible — 
so was that of Rome and other countries. Your 
arms are invincible — so were those of Rome. You 
are now distinguished all over the world, for your 
progress in the arts and sciences ; the world looks 
to you as models of patriotism and pure republican- 
ism — so did the world once look to Rome. But 
what is Rome now, and what drove her from the 
high position she once occupied ? -I will tell you ; — 
the intrigues of the Popish church. And a similar 
fate awaits you, unless you cut off all connection, 
of whatever name, between the citizens of the 
United States and the church of Rome. . While 
this sink of iniquity breathes, it will carry with it 
destruction and death wherever- it goeth. 



16 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

We have had several histories of the Popes, and 
the first mention made of donations to them, at 
least of any comparative value, is by Anastasius, who 
wrote about the beginning of the tenth century, or 
a little before the close of the ninth. He informs 
us that Charlemagne conferred upon the Holy See 
(as that hotbed of iniquity is impiously, even at 
.the present day, called) lohole pi^ovinces^ and ac- 
knowledged that they belonged to the Pope by 
divine right ; though it is well understood, and de- 
nied by no competent historian, that Charlemagne 
never even owned these provinces. It is well 
known to the readers of history, that there existed 
no empire of any extent, but that of the East, until 
the beginning of the eighth century. Charlemagne 
assumed the title of King of Italy, in the year eight 
hundred. He received homage from the Pope, and 
so far from being subject to him, he acknowledged 
no divine right in him ; but on the contrary, he held 
the Pope in strict subjection to himself. He even 
went so far as to prohibit the Holy See from receiv- 
ing donations of any kind, w^hen given without 
the consent or to the prejudice of those who had 
just and equitable claims to them. 

This, if there were no other proof, is sufficient 
to show that neither the Popes nor the Holy See 
had any pretensions to universal supremacy, or to 
supremacy of any kind, as far down as the eighth 
century. It will not be denied that the civil au- 
thorities of Rome were liberally disposed towards 
the Popes or fathers of the church in the early 
days of Christianity. The Emperor Theodosius 
the Great, who died in the year three hundred and 
ninety five, recommended to all his subjects to pay 
*'a due respect to the See of Rome." Valentian 
III. commanded his subjects ^^not to depart from 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 17 

the faith and customs of the Holy See.^'' It will 
however be borne in mindj that this Valentian was 
acknowledged emperor at the age of six, and his 
affairs were managed principally by his mother. 
So dissipated were his habits, that he finally fell 
a victim to them. Dlit up to this period there is no 
evidence whatever that the Popes either claimed or 
exercised temporal authority. 

About this time several councils met for the pur- 
pose of adjusting disputes that arose between the 
sons of the successor of Charlemagne, who unwisely, 
as historians suppose, divided his empire into three 
equal parts anong them. It was at one of these 
councils, that the doctrine of the divine right of 
Popes to teraporal authority was first broached by the 
production of some of those forged documents to 
which I have heretofore alluded. Pope Gregory the 
Fourth took an active part in fomenting the dissen- 
sions which necessarily arose from the division which 
the successor of Charlemagne had made of his em- 
pire among his sons. The Pope, with that craft 
peculiar to all ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic 
denominations, was active in widening the breach 
between father and sons, and having effected this 
to his content, his next move was to sow further 
dissensions between the sons themselves, and finally 
to create such a general confusion and dissatisfac- 
tion among all parties, as to render a mediator ne- 
cessary. Having attained his object, he offered his 
services to the Imperial Father, and it was accepted. 
He presented himself at his camp, obtained an 
entrance, and what were the consequences ? , His- 
tory tells the tale — it was a tale of treachery. 

This serpent, clothed in his pontificals, enters the 
camp, tampers with the chief officers of the empe- 
ror's army, absolves them from all further allegiance 



9 # 



18 SYNOPSIS OF POPERYj 

to him, and promises them forgiveness both here 
and hereafter. Some adherents of the emperor, 
indignant at this conduct of the Pope, remonstrated 
with him ; and what was his answer ? ^* Know 
you," said this insolent Pope, addressing himself to 
the people, '^ that my chair is above the chair of 
the emperor." But this Pope did no more than 
every succeeding one would have done under simi- 
lar circumstances. If we look back to the page of 
history, from the present period to the days of Char- 
lemagne, Louis Debonaire, and Gregory the Fourth, 
we shall find that it has been an invariable practice 
with the Roman See to sow dissensions and dis- 
union in every government where it has obtained 
a footing, with the ultimate view of its final over- 
throw and subjecting it to Popish vassalage. 

Americans will bear in mind that Roman Catho- 
lics believe their church to be infallible ; that she 
never changes ; that what was deemed right by 
her in the days of Gregory and those of his imme- 
diate successors, is right now, and, vice versa, what 
she deems right now was right then. In a word, 
the church of Rome is infallible. This is believed 
by every one of her members at the present day. It 
is taught by every Popish bishop and priest in the 
United States. 

The following curse is contained in the Roman 
Catholic Breviary, in which, every Romish priest 
reads his prayers three times every day. ^- Qui 
dicit ecclesiam catholicain Romanam 7ion esse infal- 
libilem, anathema sit — Whoever says that the Ro- 
man Catholic church is not infallible, let him be 
accursed." Such is the belief of every Roman 
Catholic. Will not Protestant Americans pause 
and reflect for a moment ? The population of the 
United States is about twenty millions, and about 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 19 

two millions are Papists. Consequently, seventeen 
millions and a half of our people are accursed and 
damned^ according to the doctrine of the Romish 
ritual ; and yet we Protestants are called upon to ex- 
tend the hand of friendship to these Papists, and our 
legislators are asked to grant them charters to build 
colleges, churches, nunneries, and monk-houses, not 
for the purpose of teaching the growing genera- 
tion the revealed will of God, as read in the Scrip- 
tures, but to persuade them that all other religions, 
except that of Rome, are erroneous ; that their pa- 
rents, brothers, and sisters, are heretics, accursed 
forever, and by implication entitled to no allegiance 
from them. 

The Pope is now setting on foot a movement 
which is intended to embrace the whole world, and 
of which he desires Rome to be the sol^ representa- 
tive, centre, and circumference. The powers of 
the Pope have met with several severe shocks since 
the Reformation. His forces have been broken, his 
armies of Jesuits, his friars of all orders, Dominicans, 
Franciscans, and Capuchins, have been scattered and 
enfeebled. He determined to arm himself afresh, 
and this new world appeared to him as the safest 
ground on which he could unite his scattered forces 
in Europe. This he well knows cannot be done, 
without throwing some fire-brand of dissension 
among our people, which at this moment he is try- 
ing to effect ; and which nothing but the resistance 
offered to him by American Republicans can 
check or prevent. 

On the continuance, strength, and union of this 
party, depends the stability of our government. 
This the Romish priests and bishops well know, 
and are beginning to feel ; and hence they are de- 
nouncing them from their pulpits, and in all their 



20 

presses. But no Protestant opposes this party* 
Why call it a party? It is no party. It is but 
the spontaneous move of the good and the virtuous 
of all parties v/ho love their God, their Bibles, and 
their country, and upon whose strong arm and bold 
hearts rests the question whether Americans shall 
be free or the slaves of his royal holitiess the Pope 
of Rome. Often have I lifted my voice, a feeble 
one, indeed, in favor of American Republicans, I 
b,elieve their cause is the cause of God and freedom^ 
and upon them every American and every Protes- 
tant foreigner must rely for protection against the 
merciless spirit of Popery. 

, It requires no stretch of imagination to fancy a 
diiference of opinion, or even of interest, between 
the citizens of this country. Suppose, for instance^ 
that the Nor^h and South were at variance ; suppose 
them actually at war with each other; what would 
be the course of the Pope^s emissaries, hundreds 
of whom are now roaming through this land ? The 
safest course and the surest mode of ascertaining 
what they would do in such an event, is to look back 
and ascertain what they have invariably done under 
similar circumstances. It is seldom wrong, and as 
a general principle it is safe, to judge of the future 
from the past ; and if so, there can be no doubt of 
the course which Jesuits and Roman Catholics 
would pursue in the event of any difficulties or 
collisions between the people of the different sec- 
tions of this country. Would they try to reconcile 
them ^ Did they ev^er do so in a like case ? What 
was the conduct of the Jesuits and Popes as early 
as the eleventh century, when the Roman people 
differed in opinion as to their form of government, 
and some points of religious faith ? The Pope laid 
an interdict upon the whole people: the weaker 



KS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 21 

party was overpowered by the Papal authorities ; 
and their leader, as Flewry informs us, was burned 
alive by order of the Pope Adrian. Frederick, 
called Barbarossa, who was the tool of the Pope on 
this occasion, became the next victim to his bar- 
barity. And why ? what had he done ? what crime 
did he commit against the state? His only crime 
was, — ^he refused to hold the Pope's stirrup. For 
this he incurred the displeasure of Adrian, nor did 
he ever enjoy a day's peace until the Pope seduced 
him into an expedition against Saladin; where, to- 
gether with thousands of others, who were per- 
suaded to undertake that religious crusade, he died 
after several hard fought victories. 

The history of the Popes, in all ages, shows that 
they never abandon any temporal or spiritual au- 
thority to which they lay claim ; and had they the 
power of enforcing it now, they would exact froni 
this country the same obedience which they did in 
the most benighted days of the middle ages. Should 
a separation of these States take place ; should the 
chain that has bound us together for the last half cen- 
tury, in links of love and social happiness, be unfor- 
tunately broken, by any untoward circumstances ; 
think you, fellow citizens, that foreign Papists in this 
country would try to reweld it? Far from it. They 
would unite in breaking it, link by link, until not a 
particle of it remained. This they have done in 
every country where they obtained a footing ; this 
they are doing now, under various pretences, all over 
Europe; and should this country escape the fate of 
others, where Jesuits and Popes dare to exercise 
their supposed authorities, it will stand prominent 
and proudly, though solitary and alone, amid the 
records of age», and ruins of time. I have no such 
hope. The efforts which are now making to check 



22 

the progress of Popery, may, perhaps, retard the 
day of our downfall ; but come it must, unless the 
allegiance, \yhich is now demanded by the Pope of 
Rome from his subjects in the United States, is un- 
qualifiedly forbidden. The Pope is a temporal 
prince. Like other kings and princes, he should 
never be permitted to meddle, directly or indirectly, 
temporally or spiritually, with this country. He 
should not be permitted to appoint bishop or 
priest to any church, diocese, living, or office in the 
United States. The Pope^s bulh^ rescripts, letters, 
&c., &c., -should not be published or read from any 
pulpit this side of the Atlantic ; and, though Roman 
Catholics should not be prevented from the free 
exercise of their religion, they should be compelled 
to do so without reference to foreign dictation. If 
they must have a Pope, let him be an American, 
and sworn to support our constitution. Let him, 
and all Roman Catholics, be denied the right of 
voting, or of holding any office of honor, profit, or 
trust, under the government of the United States, 
until they forswear all allegiance, in spiritual as 
well as temporal affairs, to all foreign potentates 
and Popes. Until this is done, an oath of allegiance 
to this government, by a Roman Catholic, is enti- 
tled to no ^credit, and should not be received. This 
will appear evident to Americans, if they will turn 
their attention for a moment to the following oath, 
which is taken by every Romish bishop, before he 
is permitted to officiate, as such, in any of these 
United States : — 

'• I do solemnly swear, on the holy evangelist, 
and before xllmighty God, to defend the domains of 
St. Peter against every aggressor ; to preserve, aug- 
ment, and extend, the rights, honors, privileges, and 
powers of the Lord Pope, and his 'successors ; to 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 2.3 

observe, and with all my might to enforce, his de- 
crees, ordinances, reservations, provisions, and all 
dispositions Avhatever, emanating from the court of 
Rome ; to pers.ecute and combat^ to the last extremity^ 
heretics^ scismatics^ a?id all ivho loill not pay to the 
sovereign pontiff all the obedience which the sove- 
7^eign shall reqnirey 

While this oath is obligatory upon Romish bish- 
ops, they are not to be trusted. They should not 
be permitted to interfere, directly nor indirectly, 
with the institutions, laws, or ordinances of any 
Protestant country. Their oaths should not be 
taken in courts of justice ; their followers, every 
one of whom is bound by a similar oath of alle- 
giance, should be excluded from our grand juries, 
from our petit juries, but more especially, from 
our halls of legislation ; for wherever and vv^henever 
the supposed interest of the Pope clashes with that 
of the civil authority, or even with the adminis- 
tration of reciprocal justice, a Papist, under the 
control of his bishop, will not hesitate to sacrifice 
the good of the country, the interest, life, and pros- 
perity of his fellow-being, for the good of the 
church. Of the truth of this, history abounds 
with examples, and Popish writers are replete with 
authorities. 

Thomas Aquinas, whose authority no Roman 
Catholic questions, says in his work de Regem.^ 
^^ The Pope, as supreme king of all the world, may 
impose taxes and destroy towns and castles for^ 
the preservation of Christianity." The American* 
reader will bear in mind, that by Christianity, St. 
Thomas means Popery. Pope Gregory the Seventh, 
about the year one thousand and fifty, has made 
use of the following language, and proclaimed it as 
the doctrine of the Romish Church. ^' The Pope 



24 



SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 



ought to be called Universal Bishop. He alone 
ought to wear the tokens of imperial dignity ; all 
princes ought to kiss his feet; he has power to 
depose emperors and kings, and is to be judged by 
none." Pope John the Twelfth, in the year nine 
hundred and iifty-six, announced th-e following to 
be the universal belief, that '^Whosoever shall ven- 
ture to maintain that our lord the Pope cannot 
decree what he pleases, let him be accursed. '^ 
Pope Bonifice the Eighth, in 1294, declares, er 
cathedra, '' that God has set Popes over kings and 
kingdoms, and whoever thinks otherwise declares 
him accursed.'' The same Pope, in another place, 
says, '^ We therefore declare, sriy, define; and pro< 
nounce it to be necessary to salvation, that every 
human creature shouM be obedient to the Roman- 
pontiff." The Pope of the present day, as every 
Roman Catholic writer maintains and teaches the 
laity to believe, has the same power 21010 that the 
Popes had at any period of chutch history. 

The council of Trent, the last held in the 
Popish church, declares that Pius the Fifth, who 
was then Po]:k3 of Rome, '' was prince over all 
nations and kingdoms, having pov/er to pluck up,, 
destroy, matter, ruin, plant, and buifd." Cardinal 
Zeba, a sound theologian according to Popish 
belief, maintains, with much ingenuity, ^' that the 
Pope can do all things which he wishes, and is 
empowered by God to do many things which he 
himself cannot do.'' All writers upon canon 
few compliment the Pope by calling him mir Lord 
the Pope, and this title w^s confirmed to- him by 
the council of Lateran. In the fourth session of 
that council, it is maintained '-that all mortals are 
to be judged by the Pope, and the Pope by nobody 
at all." Massonius, who wrote the life of Pope 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 26 

John the Ninth, tells us that a bishop of Rome, 
namely, a Pope, cannot commit even sin without 
praise." 

Were there no other reproach upon the Romish 
church but the bare utterance of such blasphemy 
as this, it would be enough to disgust mankind; 
it should raise every voice in her condemnation,^ 
and every hand to pull down this masterpiece of 
Satanic ingenuity. But strange as it may appear, 
the present Pope maintains similar claims, and 
enforces obedience ; nay, more ; — in this year of 
our Lord, 1S45, insists upon the right of deposing 
all in power, and of absolving their subjects from 
further allegiance. 

But, extravagant as Papal pretensions were be- 
tween the ninth and tenth centuries, it was only 
about the middle of the eleventh that they began 
to show themselves in the full blaze of their hide-'" 
ous deformity. Hildebrand, whom we have had oc- 
casion to mention as Gregory the Seventh, shook off 
all civil restraint, and proclaimed the universal and 
unbounded empire of the Popes over the rest of the 
world. 

As Shoberl expresses it, ^^ he caused to be drawn 
up a declaration of independence in all things, 
temporal and spiritual, expressly specifying the 
Pope's divine right of deposing all princes, giving 
away all kingdoms, abrogating existing laws, and 
substituting in their place such as the holy Pope for 
the time being may approve oV^ This declaration, 
or bill of rights, is correctly translated by Sho- 
berl, and published in his work, entitled, '' The Rise 
and Progress of the Papal Power." Many, proba- 
bly, may read this volume, who have had no oppor- 
tunity of seeing ShoberPs work ; and others there 
are, who may refuse giving his statement that 
3 



26 



SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

0* 



credence which circumstances compel them to give 
the writer. 

Having been educated a Roman Catholic priest, 
and the fact being well known that admission can- 
not be had into her priesthood without being well 
versed, at least in her own doctrines, it is fairly to 
be presumed that my statements are entitled to full 
credit, when those of Protestants may be denied 
by Romish priests, who, while united with that 
church, are compelled, under pain of being cursed, 
to subscribe to any falsehood, however gross, pro- 
vided it subserves the interest of the Pope ] and 
deny any truth, however plain, rather than contra- 
dict or weaken the authorities by which the impi- 
ous follies and wicked pretensions of the church of 
Rome are supported. 1 will give this bill of rights 
to my readers. It should be in the hands of every 
American. It should find a place in every primary 
school in the United States. It should be among 
the first lessons of infancy, so that every child, 
when he grows up and sees a Roman Catholic 
bishop or priest^ should pause and ask himself, Does 
that man believe those things ? Are we called on 
to pass laws for the support and protection of 
churches, where such doctrines, as this hill contains, 
are promulgated? Can we trust the man who pro- 
mulgates them, or those who subscribe to them ? 
Is it safe to live in the same community with them ? 
Do they not endanger our civil institutions? Do 
they not jeopardize the morals of our children? 
Will it not, at some future day, be a blot upon the 
page of our history, and a foul stain upon oilr char- 
acter for intelligence, that we have ever sanctioned 
such doctrines, or that we had ever allowed men 
who professed them, any participation in our civil 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 27 

rights ? But let Pope Gregory's declaration of Papal 
divine rights speak for itself, 

'' The Romish church is the only one that God 
has founded. 

^^ The title* of universal belongs to the Roman 
pontiff alone. 

^^He alone can depose and absolve bishops. 

^'His legate presides over all the bishops in ev- 
ery council, and may pronounce sentence of deposi- 
tion against them. 

*' The Pope can depose absent persons. 

"It is not lawful to live with such as have been 
excommunicated. 

'' He has the power, according to circumstances, 
to make new laws, to create new churches, to trans- 
form a chapter into an abbey, and to divide a rich 
bishopric into two, or to unite two poor bishoprics. 

*'He alone has a right to assume the attributes 
of empire. 

"All princes must kiss his feet. 

" His name is the only one to be uttered in the 
churches. 

" It is the only name in the world. 

" He has a right to depose emperors. 

" He has a right to remove bishops from one see 
to another. 

" He has a right to appoint a clerk [priest] in 
every church. 

" He, whom he has appointed, may govern an- 
other church, and cannot receive a higher benefice 
from any private bishop. 

" No council can call itself general without the 
order of the Pope. 

" No chapter, no book, can be reputed canonical 
without his authority. 



28 SYNOPSIS OF POPERr, 

"No one can invalidate his sentences; he can 
abrogate those of all other persons. 

" He cannot be judged by any one. 

*^ All persons whatsoever are forbidden to pre- 
sume to condemn him who is called io the apostol- 
ical chair. 

" To this chair must be brought the more impor- 
tant causes of all the churches. 

" The Roman church is never wrong, and will 
never fall into error. 

" Every Roman pontiff, canonically ordained, be- 
comes holy. 

"It is lawful to accuse when he permits, or when 
he commands. 

"He may, without synod, depose and absolve 
bishops. 

" He is no Catholic who is not united to the 
Romish church. 

t-/ The Pope can release the subjects of bad princes 
from all oaths of allegiance." 

Those who have not been educated Roman Cath- 
olics, or who have not lived in Catholic countries, 
will find it difficult to suppose that such pretensions 
as the above should ever have been entertained or 
submitted to : extravagant, absurd, wild, and wick- 
ed as they are, they have been acquiesced in by 
the court of Rome ; and are, at this day, contended 
for, and would be enforced, in this country, had that 
church the power to do so. She has never resigned 
the rights claimed in the above declaration ; and 
there is not a Roman Catholic who dares assert the 
contrary, without a dispensation from his bishop or 
his priest to tell a deliberate falsehood, with a view 
of deceiving Americans for the good of the church. 
This, however, they can always obtain and grant 
to each other, as circumstances may require* 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 29 

While a Roman Catholic priest, I have often re- 
ceived and given such indulgences myself; and 
there is not a period in the Christian world, since 
the days of Pope Gregory, when all the powers and 
prerogatives, enumerated in the above Papal bill of 
rights, were not claimed and acted upon by Popes 
of Rome, down to the hour at which I write. Let 
us test the truth of this assertion by the unerring 
rule of history, although it may seem unnecessary, 
as no Roman Catholic will deny it ; at any rate, it 
will not be questioned by those who have any ac- 
quaintance with the history of their own church. 
I am well aware that the majority of Roman Cath- 
olics in this country know nothing of the religion 
which thej^ profess, and for which they are willing 
to fight, cont'^nd, and shed the blood of their fellow 
beings. I am not even hazarding an assertion, when 
I say there is not one of them who has read the 
gospels through, or who knows any more about 
the religion he professes, than he does about the 
Koran of Mohammed. He is told by the priest, 
** that Christ established a church on earth ; that it 
is infallible ; and that they must submit implicitly 
to what its popes, priests, and bishops teach, under 
pain of eternal damnation." This is all the great 
mass of Roman Catholics know of religion ; this is 
all they are required to learn ; and hence it is that 
these people are unacquainted with the pretensions of 
the Pope, the intrigues of Jesuits, or the impositions 
practised upon them by their bishops and priests. 

But to the history of Papal pretensions. As early 
as the year 1066, Gregory, who was then Pope, 
summoned William the Conqueror, kiug of Eng- 
land, to repair to Rome, prostrate himself upon his 
knees, and do homage to his holiness. This 
William refused ; but his holiness deemed it expe- 
3* 



30 SYNOPSIS OF POPBtiy, ^ 

dient to compromise the matter, though he did not 
yield a jot of his very modest pretensions. This 
humble foHower of the Redeemer looked upon Sar- 
dinia and Russia as a portion of his dominions. 
The following extract of a letter of his, to the sove- 
reign of Russia, is a fair sample of the insolence 
of this man Pope, or rather this God Pope, as his 
subjects considered him. ^^ We have given you a 
crown to your son, who is to come and to receivia 
it at our hands on taking an oath of allegiance to 
us." He also commanded the emperor of Greece 
*^to abdicate his crown," and he also deposed the 
king of Poland. This modest Pope wrote to^ the 
diflferent princes of Spain, ^' that it would be much 
better to give up their country to the Saracens, than 
not pay homage to the See of Rome.'V He excom- 
municated Philip the First of France, because he 
refused to ^^pay homage to him." Writing to the 
French bishops, he says, " Separate yourselves from 
the communion of Philip; let the celebration of the 
holy mass be interdicted throughout all France ; 
and know that^ with the assistance of God, we Will 
deliver that kingdom from such an oppressor.'* 
This same Po}:je excommunicated Henry the Fourth, 
*' because he refused to acknowledge him as his 
superior," and absolved his subjects from their oath 
of allegiance to him : and what was the result ? 
Henry was obliged to submit. Having repaired to 
the Pope's court, he was stopped at the entrance, 
and before he was permitted to appear in the pres- 
ence of this ruffian Pope, who was then shut up 
with Matilda, countess of Tuscany, one of the 
numerous women with whom he lived on terms 
of intimacy^ he was compelled to undress and put 
on a hair shirt. The Pope then condescended to 
say, *^ that Henry should fast three days, before he 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 31 

could be permitted to kiss his holiness's toe ; and 
he would then absolve him upon promise of good 
behavior.'^ 

Alexander the Third, about the year 1160, de- 
posed Frederic First, king of Denmark; and placing 
his foot upon his neck, he impiously exclaimed, 
*^ Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder." 
This practice and these pretensions to sovereign 
power, continued down to the days of Elizabeth ; 
and from thence down •to the presejit moment. . 
Pope Pius V. excommunicated Elizabeth, and ab- 
solved her subjects from their oath of allegiance ; 
and while doing so, addressed to himself the fol- 
lowing words from the Psalmist : '^ See, I have this 
day set thee over the nations, and over the king- 
doms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy, to 
build up, and to throw down." More of this here- 
after. 

Such were the doctrines of the Romish church 
in 1558. Such were the practices of that church 
for centuries previous ; nor is there one single in- 
stance on record of her having modified or abridged 
the extent or magnitude of her claims, unless when 
compelled to do so hy coercion; and even then«he 
did not abandon her claim, but only ceased to ex- 
ercise it in obedience to the law of force. The Rom- 
ish church, in this country, as I shall show, claims 
the same temporal powers now which she has al- 
ways claimed and exercised for so many centuries. 
She would now depose the executive of this country, 
as she did Philip of France, if she dared do so. 
The Pope would absolve our citizens from their . 
oath of allegiance, had he the power of carrying 
his dispensation into effect ; and what is the duty 
of Americans under such circumstances? Are you 
to submit passively? Is it your duty to wait and 



32 SYNOPSIS OF PO^JERY, 

witness the growth of Popery among you, to nour* 
ish and feed it with the life blood of your existence 
as a nation, until the monster outgrows your own 
strength and strangles you, to satiate its inordinate 
appetite ? I lay it down as a sound principle in 
political as well as moral ethics, that if a govern- 
ment finds, within the limits of its jurisdiction, any 
sect or party, of whatever doctrine, creed, or denom- 
ination, professing principles incompatible with its 
permanency, or subversive of the unalienable right 
of self government, and worshipping God, according 
to the dictates of each and every man's conscience, 
that sect or party should be removed beyond its 
limits, or at least excluded from any participation 
in the formation or administration of its laws. 

Would it, for instance, be wise in our govern- 
ment to encourage the Mormons to introduce 
among us^ as the law of the land, the ravings and 
prophesies of Joe Smith ? Suppose that sect main- 
tained that Joe Smith was their Lord God ; that the 
kingdoms of this world were his ; that he claimed 
and did actually exercise the right of dethroning 
kings, and was endeavoring, by every means in his 
power, to place himself in a position to exercise, at 
no distant period, the right of deposing our presi- 
dents, state governors, and absolving our people 
from their oaths of allegiance. Should not that 
sect, as such, be instantly crushed ? Should it not, 
at least, be forbidden to interfere, directly or indi- 
rectly, with our civil institutions ? Let us suppose 
the prophet Joe Smith to hold the seat of his gov- 
ernment in Europe, and that Europe was full to 
overflowing with Mormons ; we may further sup- 
pose this great high priest to have thousands and 
millions of subordinate ofiicers, sworn and bound 
together by oaths cemented in blood, to sustain 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 33 

him as their sovereign ruler, by every means which 
human ingenuity could devise, and at every sacri- 
fice of truth and honor. Suppose, further, that 
this high priest was annually sending thousands 
of his subjects to this country, with no other view 
but to possess your fertile lands and overthrow 
your government, and substituting in its place that 
of this foreign priest and tyrant ; would you per- 
mit them to land upon your shores? Would you 
allow them to pollute the purity of your soil ? 
Would you allow their unclean hands to touch 
the altars of your liberty ? Would you not first 
insist that they should purge themselves from the 
sins and slime of Mormonism, and free themselves 
from all further connection with this monster man, 
and would-be God, who impiously demanded blind 
obedience and unqualified homage ? I could an- 
swer for you, but I will not ; the history of your 
republic answers for you ; the movements, which 
are now going forth from one end of your country 
to the other, are answering for you, in tones too 
solemn and too loud to be drowned by the roaring 
of Popish bulls. But it is much to be feared that 
Americans do not yet fully understand the dangers 
to be apprehended from the existence of Popery 
in the United States. It is difficult to persuade a 
single-hearted and single-minded republican, whose 
lungs were first inflated by the breath of freedom, 
whose first thoughts were, that all men had a nat- 
ural right to worship God as they pleased — that 
any man could be found, so lost to reason, interest, 
and principle, as to desire to barter those high priv- 
ileges, which he may enjoy in this country, for 
oppression and blind submission to the dictates of 
a Pope, or even any body of men, civil or ecclesi- 
astic ; still less can an American believe, without 



34 SYNOPSIS OF B,OPERY, 

difficulty, that he who sees the excellence and 
practical operation of our form of government, will 
try to overthrow it, by submitting to any creed, 
to any king or Pope, who requires from him alle- 
giance, incompatible with that which he has 
already sworn to maintain. Nor, generally speak- 
ing, will men do those things. 

While man believes in the moral obligations of 
an oath, he will not easily violate it. While he 
believes that there is an all-seeing Providence, to 
whom alone he is accountable, for his actions, he 
will be cautious in committing offences ; but once 
satisfy a man, that there is, within his reach, a power 
which can pardon his sins, even those of perjury ; 
which can change abstract evil into good, and he will 
stop at nothing. While the pardon of offences is a 
marketable article, it never will want for a purchaser, 
so prone are we to the commission of crime. Let 
man have an adviser, in whom he is taught to 
place unlimited confidence, on whom he looks as 
the representative of his God on earth, and he 
soon becomes his ready tool for good or for evil. 
Such precisely is the position in which ninety-nine 
out of a hundred Roman Catholics are placed. 
They are told by their priests, that, as members of 
society, the first allegiance they owe is to the 
head of their church, the Pope of Rome, and the 
next to the government, defacto^ under which they 
live ; but these well-practised ecclesiastical im- 
postors never forget to add, that the first alle- 
giance, being of a spiritual character, absorbs and 
supersedes the latter ; thus annulling, and render- 
ing the oath of allegiance, which they take to our 
government, something worse than even mere 
mockery ; and hence it is, that very few Catho- 
lics, particularly the Irish, ever read the constitu- 



AS IT WA9 AND AS IT IS. 35 

tion of the United States, nor do they require it to 
be read for them. They know not, they care not 
what it is. It is enough for them to believe that 
the oath, which they take to support it, is not obli- 
gatory. Of this they are assured by their priests. 
Yet strange, these very priests tell them they com- 
mit mortal sin by becoming Freemasons, or uniting 
themselves with that excellent and benevolent 
association, the Odd Fellows. And why, reader, do 
they do this? Why prevent them from uniting 
with Odd Fellows or Freemasons? Why has the 
Pope recently cursed all Odd Fellows ? Why 
has he sent a bull to this country, cautioning Cath- 
olics against having any thing to do with them? 
Why have the Romish priests, from one end of this 
country to the other, echoed these curses? Did 
the Pope discover any bad thing in the constitu- 
tion or rules of action of Freemasons or Odd Fel- 
lows? Are these institutions aiming at the over- 
throw of any fixed principles in morals, in religion, 
or in virtue ? No such allegation is made. Why 
then do Popes and priests forbid Roman Catholics 
from uniting with them ? It is expressly because 
the Pope knows nothing about those excellent 
institutions. It is because he is aware he can 
make no use of them ; but let those societies 
beware, if they wish to keep their secrets. They 
should not allow any man to join them until 
he first swears that he is not a Roman Catholic; 
otherwise some Jesuits will get among them, and 
the next packet will convey their doings to his 
royal holiness the Pope. 

I cannot illustrate more clearly the value which 
foreign Roman priests and their followers put upon 
an oath of allegiance to this government, than 
by stating a conversation which occurred between 



-86 SYNOPSIS 



qV POPERY, 



myself and a Jesuit, the Rev. Dr. De Barth, then 
vicar-general of the diocese of Pennsylvania, and 
residing in Philadelphia. It took place some years 
ago, and his opinion of the validity of an oath of 
allegiance to this government, is the same now that 
is held by all Papists. 1 will give it by way of 
question and answer, just as it occurred. 

Question by Mr. De Barth, Do you intend 
becoming a citizen of the United States ? 

Ansioer. I believe not, sir. I don't think I 
could conscientiously take an oath of allegiance to 
this government, without violating that which I 
have taken at my ordination. 

Mr, De B, You are entirely mistaken. Any 
part of your oath of allegiance to this country, 
which may be incompatible with your first and 
greater allegiance to the head of your church, 
cannot be binding on yoii. 

Arts. I have doubts upon that subject. 

Mr, De B, What ! doubt your superior, sir ? 
This looks badly. It threatens heresy. Have you 
been conversing with any heretics of this coun- 
try? Declare your intentions, sir, to become 
a citizen. Take the oath ; it is necessary you 
should be empowered to hold real estate for the 
good of the church. The church must have her 
property out of the hands of trustees ; in this coun- 
try they are all heretics ; we must get rid of them 
in St. Mary's church. 

This led me into an examination of the alle- 
giance which I swore to the Pope at my ordination. 
I found that I owed him none ; that I was the dupe 
of an early education ; that I owed allegiance only ro 
my God and the country which protected my life, 
my liberty, and my freedom of .conscience ; and 
without further conversation with this intriguing 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS, 6i 

and debauched Jesuit — as I subsequently found 
him — I became a citizen of the [Jnited States as 
soon as possible ; renouncmg all allegiance, tem- 
poral and spiritual, to his holiness the Pope; and 
firmly resolved to induce all others, who, like myself, 
had been the dupes of Popish intrigue, to cut loose 
from them. I determined to support no civil con- 
stitution but that of the United States, and to have 
no one for my guidance in spiritual matters but 
my own conscience and the word of God. 



POPISH BISHOPS AND PRIESTS ABSOLVE ALLEGIANCE TO 
PROTESTANT GOVERNMENTS. 

I am aware of the difficulty there is in persuad- 
ing Protestant Americans, that Roman Catholic 
bishops and priests teach their people to believe^ 
that they, the priests, possess the power of absolv- 
ing them, either from their oath of allegiance or 
any otheT crime. It is, however, time to speak 
plainly to Americans. It is time to let them know 
that there exists in the midst of them a body of 
people, amounting in number to about two millions, 
who believe in this doctrine, so corrupt in itself, 
and so well calculated to disturb the joeace and har- 
mony of society. There is not a priest or bishop 
in the United States who dares deny this ; they act 
upon it every day. It is customary with the 
priests to confess weekly, and to forgive each other's 
sins; and^I am sorry to say, from my knowedge of 
them, since my infancy to the present moment, that 
there is not a more corrupt, licentious body of men 
in the world. But I will not be judge, accuser, and 
witness, in this case. I know well that Americans 
4 



38 



SYNOPSIS OF FOPERV, 

\ 



will take the ipse dixit of no man. They are no! 
in the habit of lightly judging any individual or 
body of men, in any case. I will, therefore, lay 
before them the Roman Catholic doctrine on the 
subject of penance and confession, as taught by the 
council of Trent, and now believed and practised 
by Roman Catholics in the United States. I will 
only add, that I have taught these doctrines myself,^ 
when a Roman Catholic priest, and while groping 
my way through the darkness of Popery. There 
are many now living who heard and received them 
from me, and to whom I have no apology to make 
for the errors into which I led them, except that^ 
like themselves, I was the dupe of early education. 
The following are some of the canons of the- 
council of Trent concerning penance or confession : 

'^ Whoever shall say, that those words of the 
Lord and Saviour : Receive the Holy Ghost ; whose 
sins you shall forgive^ they are forgiven them^ and 
whose sins you shall fetain, they are retained ; are 
not to be understood of the power of remitting and 
retaining sins in the sacrament of penance, as the 
Catholic church has always un-derstood, from the 
beginning ; but shall falsely apply them against the 
institution of this sacrament, to the authority of 
preaching the gospel ; let him be accursed I 

^* Whoever shall deny that sacramental confession 
has either been instituted by divine command, or is 
necessary to salvation ; or shall say that the mode 
of secretly confessing to a priest alone, which the 
Catholic church always has observed from the 
beginning, and still observes, is foreign^ from the 
institution and command of Christ, and isahum£Hi 
invention ; let him be accursed ! 

'• Whoever shall affirm, that in the sacrament of 
penance, it is not necessary by divine command, for 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 39 

the remission of sins, to confess all and every 
mortal sin, of which recollection may be had, with 
due and diligent premeditation, including secret 
offences, and those which are against the two last 
precepts of the decalogue, and the circumstances 
which change the species of sin : but that this 
confession is useful only for the instruction and 
consolation of the penitent, and was anciently ob- 
served, only as a canonical satisfaction imposed 
upon him ; jor shall say, that they who endeavor 
-to confess all their sins, wish to leave nothing for 
the divine mercy to pardon ; or finally, that it is 
not proper to confess venial sins ; let him be 
accursed ! 

** Whoever shall say, that the confession of all 
sins, such as the church observes, is impossible, 
and that it is a human tradition, to be abolished by 
the pious ; or that all and every one of Christ's 
faithful, of both sexes, are not bound to Obsertre it 
once in the year, according to the constitution of 
the great Lateran council, and that for this reason, 
Christ's faithful should be advised not to confess in 
the time of Lent ; let him be accursed ! 

^'Whoever shall say, that the sacramental abso- 
lution of the priest is not a judicial act, but a mere 
ministry to pronounce and declare, that sins are 
remitted to the person making confession, provided 
that he only believes that he is absolved, even 
though the priest should not absolve seriously, but 
in joke ; or shall say, that the confession of a peni- 
tent is not requisite, in order that the priest may 
absolve him ; let him be accursed ! 

*^ Whoever shall say, that priests who are living 
in mortal sin do not possess the power of binding 
and loosing ; or that the priests are not the only 



40 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

ministers of absolution, but that it was said to all 
and every one of Christ's faithful : Whatsoever 
you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in 
heave?! ; and whatsoever you shall loose upon 
earthy shall be loosed also in heaven ; and whose 
sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven, and 
whose sins you shall retain, they are retained : by 
virtue of which words, any one may forgive sin ; 
public sins, by reproof only, if the offender shall 
acquiesce ; and private sins, by voluntary confes- 
sion ; let him be accursed ! 

*^ Whoever shall say; that bishops have not the 
right of reserving cases to themselves, except such 
as relate to the external polity of the church, and 
therefore that the reservation of cases does not hin- 
der the priest from truly absolving from reserved 
cases ; let him be accursed ! 

" Whoever shall say, that the whole penalty, 
together with the guilt, is always remitted by God, 
and that the satisfaction of penitents is nothing 
else than the. faith by which they apprehend that 
Christ has satisfied for them ; let him be accursed ! 

^' Whoever shall say, that satisfaction is by no 
means made to God, through Christ's merits, for 
sins as to their temporal penalty, by punishments 
inflicted by him, and patiently borne, or enjoined 
by the priests, though not undergone voluntarily, 
as fastings, prayers, alms, or also other works of 
piety, and therefore that the best penance is 
nothing more than a new life ; let him be ac- 
cursed ! 

^' Whoever shall say, that the satisfactions by 
which penitents redeem themselves from sin 
through Jesus Christ, are no part of the service of 
God, but traditions of men, obscuring the doctrine 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 41 

concerning grace, and the true worship of God, and 
the actual benefit of Christ's death ; let him be 
accursed ! 

"• Whoever shall say, that the keys of the church 
were given only for loosing, not also for binding, 
and that therefore the priests, when they impose 
punishments upon those who confess, act against 
the design of the keys, and contrary to the insti- 
tution of Christ ; and that it is a fiction, that when 
by virtue of the keys the eternal penalty has been 
removed, the temporal punishment may still often 
remain to be suffered ; let him be accursed ! " 

I must be j:>ermitted here to remind Americans, 
that all Roman Catholics are taught to believe, and 
distinctly to understand, that whatever they confess 
to their priests, is not to be revealed ; nor is the in- 
dividual, who confesses, permitted to reveal what- 
ever the priest says or does to him or her, except 
to another priest. For instance, should a priest in- 
sult or attempt to seduce a woman, aud succeed in 
doing so, she dare not reveal it under pain of dam- 
nation, except to another priest in confession, who 
is bound also to secrecy ; and thus, priests, bishops, 
popes, and all females of that denomination, may 
be guilty of licentiousness, — the bare mention of 
which would pollute the pages of this or any other 
work, — with impunity. The priests can first par- 
don the woman, and then themselves, according 
to the doctrines of the infallible church of Rome. 
This is not all. It is not enough that the sanction 
of the church should be given to these enormities; 
but priests also claim the right of concealing, from 
the civil authorities, any knowledge which they 
may have of crimes against the state as well as the 
power of forgiving them. The following is the 
language of the church upon that subject. Attend 
4* 



49 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

I 

to it, fellow citizens, and tremble at the dangers 
that threaten the destruction of your republic, 
from the introduction of Popery among you. 

*^ Although the life or salvation of a man. or the 
ruin of the state, should depend upon it, what is 
discovered in confession cannot be revealed. The 
secret of the seal — confession — is more binding 
than the obligation of an oath.*' If a confessor 
is asked, what he knows of a fact communicated 
to him, he must answer that he does not know it ; 
and, if necessary, confirm it by an oath ; and '' this 
is no perjury,'* says the Popish church, '' because 
he KNOWS it not as man, but as GOD.*' There is 
Popery for you, in its naked beauty ! If a man 
wishes to murder, or to rob you, he may go to his 
priest, apprize him of his intention, confess to him 
that he will assuredly murder and rob you, or that 
he has done so already, and yet this priest may be 
your next door neighbor, and he will not make it 
known ; and why, reader ? Because he knows it as 
God J and as God he tells the murderer to come to 
him and he will forgive him. It is not at all im- 
possible but the day may come when this country 
may be at war with Europe. We can easily fancy 
the despots of Europe forming another holy alii- 
a7ice, for the laudable purpose of suppressing de- 
mocracy. France, Austria, Spain, Italy, and a large 
portion of Germany and Switzerland, together with 
the HOLY SEE, would necessarily constitute that 
holy junto ; and if so, and war were declared by 
them against this country, what would be the con- 
sequence? Inevitable ruin; certain defeat ; not 
caused by foes abroad, but by foes within, leagued 
by the most solemn ties, and bound by the most 
fearful oaths to sacrifice our country, and all we 
value, for the advancement of the Roman church. 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 43 

That there is a foe in the midst of us, capable 
of doing so, no man acquainted with the doc- 
trines and statistics of the Roman Catholic church 
in this country can deny. 

It has now: — Dioceses, 21 ; apostolic vicarate, 
1 ; number of bishops, 17 ; bishops elect, 8 ; priests, 
634; churches, 611 ; other stations, 461 ; ecclesias- 
tical seminaries, 19; clerical students, 261 ; literary 
institutions for young men, 16 ; female academies, 
48 ; elementary schools, passim^ throughout most 
of the dioceses ; periodicals, 15 ; population, 1,300,- 
000. Late accounts carry the population up to 
2,000,000. 

The increase of the Romish church, in this 
country, since 1836, amounts to 12 bishops, 293 
priests, 772 churches and other stations, 1,400,000 
individuals, and other things in proportion. 

Should the said church go on increasing for the 
next thirty years as she has done for the last eight 
years, the Papists would be a majority of the popu- 
lation of the United States, and the Pope our 
supreme temporal ruler. 

I have stated to you before what the doctrines 
of these two millions are in relation to the power 
of the Pope ; and I repeat it now, and most sol- 
emnly assure you, that there is not a Roman Cath- 
olic in Europe or the United States who does not 
believe that the Pope has as good a right to govern 
this country.as he has to govern Italy ; and that he 
is, and of right ought to be, our king. Pope 
Gregory VII. has declared, " that the Pope alone 
ought to wear the tokens of imperial dignity, and 
that all princes ought to kiss his feet.'' There is 
not a Roman Catholic clergyman, whether bishop 
or priest, who does not believe that it is the duty 



44 

of our president, our gov^nors, and magistrates, to 
do the same. 

Bellarmine, one of the best authorities among 
Catholic writers, says, ^' The supremacy of the 
Pope over all persons and things is the main sub- 
stance of Christianity." Mark that, fellow-citi- 
zens ! That is the belief of Bishop Hughes, of 
New York ; that is the belief of Bishop Fenwick, 
of Boston, and of every other Roman Catholic 
bishop in the United States, as I will soon show. 

Pope Boniface VIII. says, ^* It is necessary to 
salvation that all Christians be subject to the 
Pope." Bzovius, an orthodox Roman Catholic 
writer, whose authority no bishop or priest will 
venture to question, says of the Pope — ^^He is 
judge in heaven, and in all earthly jurisdiction 
supreme ; he is the arbiter of the world.'' Mosco- 
vius, another eminent Popish writer, informs us 
that '^ God's tribunal and the Pope's tribunal are 
the same." Pope Paul IV., in one of his bulls, 
published in the year 1557, declares, that *'all 
Protestants, be they kings or subjects, are cursed ; " 
and this doctrine is an integral portion of the law 
of the Roman Catholic church, as may be seen in 
the fifth book of the decretals of the council of 
Trent. This is not all. We find in the forty-third 
canon of the council of Lateran, that '' all bishops 
and priests are forbidden from taking any oath of 
allegiance," except to the Pope. 

We find in another part of the decrees of the 
council of Lateran, held under Pope Innocent III., 
the following denunciation : — '•' All magistrates 
who interpose against priests in any criminal case, 
whether it be for murder or high treason, let him 
be excommunicated." Bear that in mind, Ameri- 



A3 IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 46 

can Protestants ! If a priest murder one of you, if 
he commit high treason against your government, 
your magistrates dare not interfere, under pain 
of being damned. So says the infallible Roman 
CHURCH ; and so will she act, should she ever ac- 
quire the power of doing so, in this country. 

It is said by Lessius, an eminent Jesuit writer, 
and professor of divinity in the Roman Catholic 
colle^ of Louvaine, who wrote about the year 
1620, and whose authority no Roman Catholic 
dare doubt, under pain of eternal damnation, that 
" the Pope can annul and cancel every possible 
obligation arising from an oath." This he taught 
to his students in the college of Louvaine. This 
same doctrine has been taught in the college of 
Maynooth, Ireland, where I was educated myself. 
It is taught there at the present day. See the 
works of De La Hogue. 

Judge you, Americans, what safety there is for 
your republic, while ' you s^ipport and sustain 
among you a sect numbering two millions, who 
are sworn to uphold such doctrines as, the fore- 
going. The very domestics in your houses are 
spies for the priests. Nothing transpires under 
your own roofs which is not immediately known 
to the bishop or priest to whom your servants 
confess. But you may say, "' The confessor will 
not reveal it." Here you are partly right, and 
partly mistaken ; and it is proper to explain the 
course adopted by priests in such matters as con- 
fession. 

If it be the interest of the church, that what is 
confessed should be made public, the priest tells the 
party, to make it known to him, '^ out of the confes- 
sional,^^ and then he uses it to suit his own views ; 
perhaps for the destruction of the reputation, or 



46 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

fortune, of the very man, or family, employing this 
domestic. But it may be replied that Roman Catho- 
lics are good-natured people ; that they are generous 
and industrious. Admitted : I will even go fur- 
ther ; there is not a people in the world more so. 
Nature has done much for them, especially those 
of them who are natives of Ireland ; but the want 
of a correct education has corrupted their hearts, 
and imbittered their feelings ; they are not to be 
trusted with the care or management of the affairs 
of Protestant families. 

It is not generally known, nor perhaps suspected, 
by Protestant parents, who employ Roman Catholic 
domestics, in nursing and taking care of their chil- 
dren, that these nurses are in the habit of taking 
their children privately to the houses of their 
priests, and bishops, and there getting them baptized^ 
according to the Roman Catholic ritual. I state 
this as a fact, within my own knowledge. While 
1 officiated as a Roman Catholic priest, in Phila- 
delphia, I baptized hundreds, I may say thousands, 
of Protestant children, without the knowledge 
or consent of their parents, brought to me secretly, 
by their Roman Catholic nurses ; and I should have 
continued to do so till this day, had not the Lord, 
in his mercy, been pleased to visit me, and show 
me the wiles, treachery, infamy, corruption, and 
intrigue of the church, of which the circumstances 
of birth and education caused me to be a member. 
It was usual with me in Philadelphia, in St. Mary's 
church, of which I was pastor, to have service 
every morning at seven o'clock ; and often when I 
returned home, between eight and eleven, have 
I found three, four, and sometimes six and eight 
children, whose parents were Protestants, waiting 
for me, in the arms of their Roman Catholic nurses, 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 47 

to be baptized. This is a common practice in 
every Protestant country, where there are Roman 
Catholic priests; but as far as my experience goes, 
it prevails to a greater extent iu the United States 
than elsewhere ; and I should not be in the least 
surprised, if at this time, in the city of Boston, 
nearly all the infants, nursed by Roman Catholic 
women, are baptized by their priests and bishops. 
Roman Catholic women are unwilling to come in 
contact, even with heretic infants. They believe 
them damned^ unless baptized by a Romish priest. 
There is another fact, indirectly connected with 
this subject, which is not generally known. It is 
believed by Roman Catholics, that all mothers, after 
their confinement, are to be churched by some 
Romish priest or bishop. This churching is per- 
formed by the repetition of a few prayers, in 
Latin, a sprinkling of holy water, and the woman 
who does not submit to this mummery, is believed 
by any Roman Catholic nurse whom she may 
employ, to be eternally damned^ together with her 
child. They go so far as to say, that the very ground 
upon which the unchurched mother walks is ac- 
cursed ; that the very house in which she lives 
is accursed ; and that all she says and does Js 
accursed. 

So firmly have the Romish priests and bishops 
fastened this belief upon the minds of their dupes, 
that at this moment in Ireland, and I may venture 
to say in this city of Boston, no Catholic woman 
will leave her bed after confinement, without being 
churched, lest the ground on which she walks may 
be accursed. Until this ceremony is performed, 
none of her Catholic neighbors will hold any inter- 
course with her. How then can Protestant mothers 
expect otherwise, than that Catholic nurses will 



48 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

have their children baptized by priests ! or what 
security can they have that they will not, under 
the direction of priests, try to turn the minds of 
their children from the contemplation of truth, and 
pure gospel light, to the foul sources of Popery and 
superstition! Look to this, American mothers. 

It may not be amiss in this connection, to lay be- 
fore American Protestants, the doctrine of the Rom- 
ish church upon baptism ; and, lest I may be ac- 
cused of setting down aught in malice, I shall do 
so in the words of the council of Trent. 

Canons of the Council of Trent concerning 
Baptism, 

'' 1. Whoever shall say that the baptism of John 
had the same virtue as the baptism of Christ ; let 
him be accursed ! 

- i' 2. Whoever shall say that true and natural water 
is not absolutely necessary for baptism, and there- 
fore wrests those words of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
as though they had been a kind of metaphor : ' Ex- 
cept a man be born of water, and the Holy Spirit ; ' 
let him be accursed ! 

'^ 3. Whoever shall say that in the Roman 
church, which is the mother and mistress of all 
churches, the doctrine concerning the sacrament 
of baptism is not true; let him be accursed ! 

*^ 4. Whoever shall say that the baptism which 
is also given by heretics, in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, with the 
intention of doing what the church does, is not 
true baptism ; let him be accursed ! 

[Here is another of those rules, by which the holy 
Romish church leaves herself room to impose upon 
the public. Can any man believe, can any one 
even suppose a case, where- a heretic acts, or intends 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS- 49 

to act, according to the intention of the church 
of Rome ? The very act of heresy was against 
that church and her doctrines ; and the truth is, if 
the church would speak honestly, or her priests and 
bishops do so for her, all who are not baptized in 
the Romish church, and who are baptized, are 
eternally damned. So thinks, and so teaches,^ the 
Popish church.] 

" 5. Whoever shall say that baptism is optional, 
that is, not necessary to salvation ; let him be 
accursed ! 

^^ 6. Whoever shall say that a baptized person 
cannot, even if he would, lose grace, how much 
soever he may sin, unless he is unwilling to believe ; 
let him be accursed ! 

^' 7. Whoever shall say that baptized persons, 
by baptism itself, become debtors to preserve faith 
alone, and not the whole law of Christ ; let him be 
accursed ! 

^* 8. Whoever shall say tbat baptized persons are 
free from all precepts of holy church, which are 
either written or traditional, so that they are not 
bound to observe them, unless they choose to sub- 
mit themselves to them of their own accord ; let 
him be accursed ! 

"• 9. Whoever shall say that men are so to be re- 
called to the memory of the baptism which they 
have received, that they may regard all the vows 
which are made after baptism as null and void, by 
virtue of the promise already made in baptism itself, 
as if by it they detract from the faith which they 
have professed, and from the baptism itself; let 
him be accursed ! 

" 10. Whoever shall say that all the sins which 
are committed after baptism, by the mere remem- 
brance and faith of the baptism received, are 



60 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

either dismissed or become venial ; let him be 
accursed ! 

^•^11. Whoever shall say that a baptism, truly 
and with due ceremony conferred, is to be repeated 
on him who has denied the faith of Christ among 
infidels, when he is converted to repentance ; let 
him be accursed ! 

^' 12. Whoever shall say that no one is to be 
baptized, except at that age at which Christ was 
baptized, or in the article of death ; let him be 
accursed ! 

^' 13. Whoever shall say that infants, because 
they have not the act of faith, are not to be reck- 
oned among believers after having received bap- 
tism, and on this account are to be re-baptized 
when they arrive at years of discretion ; or that it 
is better that their baptism be omitted, than that 
they should be baptized in the faith only of the 
church, when they do not believe by their own 
act ; let him be accurst ! 

^' 14. Whoever shall say that baptized children 
of this kind, when they have grown up, are to be 
asked whether they wish to have that ratified 
which their sponsors promised in their name When 
they were baptized ; and that when they reply 
that they are unwilling, they are to be left to their 
own choice; and that they are not in the mean- 
time to be compelled by any other punishment, to 
a Christian life, except that they be prohibited the 
enjoyment of the Eucharist, and the other sacra- 
ments, until they repent; let him be accursed ! " 

This last canon, as the reader perceives, explains 
fully why Roman Catholics are so anxious for the 
baptism of Protestant children by their priests. It 
gives them the power of compelling those children, 
should they deem it expedient to do so, to profess 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 51 

the Catholic faith, and thereby strengthening her 
power. They try to alienate the children from the 
parents ; or calculating upon that natural affection, 
with which a parent clings to a child, they hope to 
bring over the parent also to the Catholic faith ; or, 
failing in this, they hope to break up those alliances 
of blood which nature has established, and that 
comniunity of interest and feeling, which society 
has sanctioned, and religion and nature have 
blessed, between parent and child. 

A true Papist will stop at nothing to advance the 
power of the Pope, or the interest of the holy 
church. Heretics, by which the reader will under- 
stand all who do not belong to the Roman Catho- 
lic church, are to be destroyed, cost what it will. 
Death, and the destruction of heretics, is the watch- 
word of Popery. Down with Protestant govern- 
ments, kings, presidents, governors, judges, and all 
other civil and religious authorities, is the war-cry 
in Popish countries. They desire neither to live 
nor die with us. They refuse to be laid down in 
the same common earth with us. Need this be 
provqfl to Americans ? One would suppose not. 
Our intercourse with Roman Catholic countries is 
such, at present, that there can be no longer any 
doubt of this fact. 

Our commercial transactions with Spain, Portu- 
gal, South America, Mexico, and the neighboring 
Island of Cuba, enables many of our people to 
judge for themselves, and say Avhat is now the con- 
dition of Protestants in those countries where 
Popery predominates. Can a Protestant worship 
God in those coiuitries, according to the dictates of 
his own conscience ? He cannot. They are all 
t©ld by their priests, that a Protestant is a thing too 
unclean to worship God, until he is first baptized, 



52 SYNOPSIS OF POPERYj 

and then shrived or confessed by their priests. A 
Protestant cannot even carry his Bible with him, 
into these countries. Many of my fellow-citizens, 
who may see this statement, will bear testimony to 
its truth. When a Protestant arrives at any port 
in a purely Catholic country, his trunks and his 
person are examined ; and if a bible is found in them, 
or about him, it is taken from him. The ministers 
of his religion dare not accompany him, or if he 
does, his lips are sealed, under pain of a lingering 
death. Should sickness lay its heavy hand upon 
him, there is no minister to attend him, no Bible 
allowed him, from which he may quench his thirst 
for the waters of life. Should death visit him, 
there is no one to close the eyes of the lonely Protes- 
tant stranger. A good Roman Catholic would not 
touch the accursed heretic, and when dead he is 
not allowed the rights of Christian interment ; 
he must be cast by the wayside, as suitable food 
for the hog, the dog, and the buzzard. How 
many a worthy American have I seen myself, in 
Cuba, cast away when dead, as you would a car- 
rion, not even a coffin to cover him ; and why all 
this ? Because he was a heretic ; because he did not 
believe in the supremacy of the Pope, and the 
infallibity of the Romisli church ; and yet those 
inhuman wretches, those libels upon religion and 
humanity, come among us, ask you for lands on , 
which to build churches and pulpits, from which 
they curse you and your children ; become citizens 
of your republic, inmates in your families, with 
smiles on their faces and curses in their hearts for 
you. Let not this language be deemed exaggera- 
tion. I have heard it, I have witnessed it, I have 
seen it. And yet Americans, heedlessly fancying 
themselves and their institutions secure, refuse 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT I's. 53 

these, their sworn enemies, and foes of their religion, 
nothing they ask for. Such is the hstlessness and 
apathy of our people upon this subject, that, as far as 
I am acquainted, ho appeal has ever been made 
to our government, to ask even for a modification 
of those barbarities, with which our Protestant citi- 
zens are treated, in Roman Catholic countries ; nor 
has there been any effort made to alter our free 
constitution, so as to enable us to retaliate upon 
those Popish monsters, and obtain from the blood- 
thirsty cowards, at the point of the bayonet, those 
common privileges, which are almost among the 
necessary appurtenances of humanity, and which 
even a Pagan would scarcely deny to a fellow- 
being. 

I hold it as undeniable, that even as Protestants, 
we are, at least by implication, entitled by our trea- 
ties of alliance with Popish countries, to far dif- 
ferent treatment from that which we receive ; and 
had the question been considered by our people^ 
either in their primary meetings, or through their 
representatives, they would have long since, insist- 
ed upon due protection and respect for the natural 
rights of their citizens abroad. These natural 
rights can neither be sold nor exchanged; their free 
exercise is guaranteed by implication in every 
treaty we make with foreign nat^ions, and cannot 
be violated by them without giving just cause of 
war. 

Let political casuists say what they please, there 
is no principle better established in political ethics, 
than that all international treaties of amity and 
commerce, should be formed, and if formed, should 
be ke{)t, upon principles of justice and reciprocity. 
The same national amity and courtesy, which our 
Protestant country extends to Popish nations and 
5* 



54 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY; 

their people, should be extended by them to us. 
By national friendship and comity, is not, I appre- 
hend, and should not, be meant or understood, the 
privilege of seUing a bale of cotton here or a bag 
of cotfee there. It includes the iree exercise of 
the rights of the parties thereto, so far. at least, as 
they are not incompatible with each other, or with 
the general principles of natural or national law. 
The Spaniard, the Portuguese, the Italian, the 
Mexican, or Cuban, may worship his God, the Vir- 
gin Mary, or any saint he pleases, and no American 
will disturb him ; no American will forbid him. 
If he dies, his priests may have him buried where 
he will. This is as it should be. Man has a nat- 
ural right to worship God : it is a right implanted in 
his very nature. As well may we say to a man, 
thou shalt not breathe the air of our country, as say, 
thou shalt not worship the God that gave thee birth ; 
and as well also may we say, thou shalt not 
worship that God except according to the mode 
which we prescribe, as forbid him doing so at all. 
The natural right of worshipping God, or a first 
cause, implies the right of doing so according to 
the dictates of each man's conscience, provided, in 
doing it. we interfere with none of those laws, 
which civilized nations should reverence. This is 
the principle on* which we act with Popish coun- 
tries and p»eople. and upon th^ principle of recip- 
rocal justice, we ought to demand similar treatment 
from them. 

We have friendly treaties with these people. 
Friendly, forsooth 1 Can that man or that nation be 
friendly, who forbids us to read our Bibles within 
tljeir territories, or to bury^ our dead among their 
dead, or to Avorship God according to the usages of 
our forefathers, or the dictates of our own con- 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 55 

science? Such treaties should rather be termed 
treaties for the abrogation of natural rights of 
Americans loithin Popish doTuinioiis. We enjoy 
no rights there ; and if we have any by impUcation, 
under our treaties, they are impiously wrested from 
us by a wicked rabble of priests and bishops, dis- 
tinguished only for their ignorance, rapacity, and 
licentiousness. 

I solemnly call upon every American citizen, 
who reveres his God, respects his fellow-citizens, 
or values the happiness of his country, to submit 
no longer to Popish insolence abroad, and to allow 
them no rights in this country, which they are not 
willing to reciprocate. If our existing treaties of 
amity with Popish powers are not sufficient to pro- 
test us in tlie free exercise of our religion, when 
among them, let us break them, let us tear them 
asunder, aud scatter them as chaft' before the wind. 
They were never binding upon us. They were 
made in violation of natural rights, which God 
alone could give, and man cannot take away. Call 
upon your government to protect you ; choose no 
man as your representative who will allow Popery 
to flourish in this free soil, and witness the religion ^ 
of your forefathers trampled upon, with impunity, 
by Papists in a neighboring country ; and if you 
cannot obtain your rights by law, you will show 
the world that you have, at least, moral and phys- 
ical courage enough to redress your wrongs. 

Let not Papists, who, at the distance of a few 
days' sail from your ports, would deny your brother 
the rights of Christian interment, or the consolation 
of dying with his Bible in his hand, dare call up- 
on your aid, to propagate a religion, which incul- 
cates principles worse and more dangerous than 
were ever practised in Pagan lands. 



56 * SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

Much sympathy is felt and expressed, particu- 
larly in this state of Massachusetts, where I write, 
for some of her colored population, because it is 
deemed necessary, in slave states, to prevent them 
from commingling with their slaves, lest they may 
excite them to dissatisfaction with their condition, 
and ultimately to insurrection. It is deemed a 
matter of such magnitude that Massachusetts, in 
the plenitude of its sympathy, felt herself called 
upon to send an ambassador to South Carolina, to 
protect her citizens, and demand redress for this 
supposed outrage upon her rights. It is not my in- 
tention to enter into the merits or demerits of the 
question at issue between the states of Massachu- 
setts and South Carolina. I will merely state, that 
the former consists in this, viz : by a law of the 
state of South Carolina, every free person of color, 
entering that state, is liable to be im.prisoned 
till he leaves the state. This is done by South 
Carolina and some other slave states, as a necessary 
measure of precaution ; but the prisoner is kindly 
treated ; at least, we hear nothing to the contrary ; 
no such complaint is made by Massachusetts. The 
prisoner is allowed the free exercise of his religion ; 
his friends may visit him almost at any hour; his 
spiritual instructor is never denied access to him ; 
he may have his Bible with him, or any other 
books he may think proper. But this will not satisfy 
the sympathizing people of Massachusetts. They 
call public meetings of their citizens ; threaten to 
dissolve the union ; and declare they will raise a 
sufficient military force to invade South Carolina, 
and redress this outrage upon a citizen's rights, at 
the point of the bayonet. 

Man is truly a strange being, and various indeed 
are the currents of his sympathies, but still more va- 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 5% 

rious and unaccountable are the causes which often 
set them in motion. It is comparatively but seldom, 
that a colored citizen of the North goes to slave 
states ; but if there should be the least infraction of 
his civil rights, the whole North flies into a pas- 
sion ; and yet this very people of the North can see 
the citizens of their own country, kindred, and 
blood, in a neighboring Popish port of Havana, for 
instance, deprived of all their rights, both conven- 
tional and natural, without a murmur. Not a com- 
plaint is heard in New England, from the son, 
whose father is confined in the dungeons of Cuba, 
not because he is suspected of any intention to cre- 
ate insurrection, but simply because he refused to 
kneel to some wooden image, which a parcel of 
debauched priests are lugging about the streets ; or 
because he expresses his belief that such pro- 
cessions and mummeries are worse than Pagan 
idolatry. 

The American Protestant, who will dare worship 
his God publicly, or even in private, within the 
walls of his own house, unless with closed doors, 
and without the knowledge of the Popish spies 
of the Inquisition, is liable to imprisonment, 
from which, in all probability, he is never to be 
released. If a Bible be found in his house, it is 
burned, and he and his family are cast into jail. 
This is the case in every country where the Popish 
church has power enough to make its religion that 
of the state ; and yet we have treaties of amity 
with these countries. What a burlesque upon 
amity ! what a mockery of friendly relations, with 
a people who deny us the exercise of the natural 
right which every man has, to worship God as he 
pleases ! who compel our lathers, brothers, and our 
sons, to bow the knee, in idolatrous worship, to 



58 STN'OPSIS OF POPERY; 

wooden images, and particles of bread, which are 
paraded as Gorls. through the streets, in Roman 
Catholic countries. Friendly relations, forsooth, 
with a people who consider ns damned, and already 
consigned to perdition! And yet we hear no com- 
plaint in Massachusetts, of cruelties to our citizens; 
nothing is said of the violation of those friendly re- 
lations, secured to us by treaty, and annually de- 
clared by our presidents, in their messages, to exist 
and to be maintained between our people and those 
Popish countries. When we hear of an American 
citizen in Cuba, when we hear of his natural rights 
being trampled under foot, by Catholic governors, 
bishops, and priests, no complaint is made of a vio- 
lation of friendly alliance ; no meeting is called to 
express sympathy for the individual sufferer, or 
indignation against the treacherous government of 
Popery ; no act of our legislature has been passed, 
making appropriations to send ambassadors to these 
neighboring nations, for injuries done to our citi- 
zens ; and yet it is a well-known fact, that where 
one colored citizen of New England is imprisoned, 
for a few days, in South Carolina, there are a thou- 
sand of our enterprising seamen and merchants; con- 
fined in the dungeons of Spain. Italy, Portugal, 
Mexico, and Cuba, at our very door. How long 
will these outrages be tolerated ? A Popish captain 
comes here; the hands before the mast are Papists; 
the ship may have her chaplain, or may have as many 
little godsj and saints, indulgences, scapulas, beads, 
and rosaries, as they please : they may land, captain, 
crew, saints, and all, and no one molests them : but if 
an American ship arrives at the very port from which 
the other sailed, her captain and crew are forbidden 
even to carry their Bible on shore : but should the 
ship have a Protestant chaplain, and that chaplain 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 59 

venture on shore, with his congregation of sailors — • 
all American freemen — he dare not take his Bible 
with him, or hold religious worship on this Popish 
soil ; and should this captain, chaplain, or any of 
the crew die, he is not allowed Christian burial^ 
unless he can buy the privilege from profligate 
priests, at an enormous sacrifice of money, and 
after certain purifications eff*ected by holy water, 
and smoking, which they call incense. This is 
what our government calls friendly relations. 

How long shall we be amused by the executive 
messages, annually informing us of receiving -'as- 
surances of friendship from Popish countries ? " 
Let the people take this subject into their own 
hands ; l.et them have no alliance, no treaty, no 
commerce with a people, who will deny them the 
right of worshipping God peaceably and respect- 
fully, or who will refuse them the right of burying 
their dead decently and with due solemnity. The 
treaties which are made with Papists begin, on their 
part, with the most solemn avowal of good faith, 
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
They assure us of their friendly sentiments towards 
us under this solemn and awful sanction ; but no 
sootier is this promise made — no sooner have they 
pledged their honor, their faith, and all that is holy, 
to support it — than they disregard all those obliga- 
tions, feeling and believing that they are already 
dispensed with by their church, which teaches 
them to hold no faith with heretics. The priests, 
however, and bishops, more craft.y than the mass 
of their people, plead state necessity for withhold- 
ing from us privileges which we give them. This 
is a shallow pretext, and worthy only of the source 
from which it comes. Can any case be supposed, 
or any necessity arise, to violate the eternal princi- 



60 SYNOPSIS Oi' POPERY, 

pies of right and wrong, of justice and truth? 
Are moral and national obligations anything more 
than mere dead letters and leaden rules, which can 
be bent by hands strong enough to do so, and to 
suit their own purposes and designs? 

Suppose a man in private life — suppose further, 
that man to be a Papist — he enters into a treaty of 
alliance and friendship with a Protestant: he calls 
God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to witness 
that he will fulfil his engagement; we can easily 
fancy the Protestant, within the jurisdiction of that 
Papist, reading his Bible, without interfering or 
any way molesting the individual within whose 
jurisdiction he is. Let us imagine this Protestant 
seized by the Papist, thrown into prison by him, 
while alive, and if dead, thrown away as food for 
the birds of prey. Would you call this fulfilling 
the obligations of friendship or friendly alliance ? 
Would the Protestant ever enter into such a treaty 
of alliance again ? Would not ever}^ Protestant 
who witnessed this transaction look upon the Pa- 
pist who committed it, even though he be but a 
private individual, as a bad man, with whom no 
further intercourse ought to be had? Assuredly, 
he would. But let it be borne in mind, that ac- 
tions do not change their nature ; immutable prin- 
ciples are always the same ; they do not change with 
the paucity or number of actors ; what is bad in 
an individual will be wrong in a nation, and in 
every individual of that nation. The only diflfer- 
ence is, that an act of perfidy and bad faith in a 
nation is, if possible, worse in itself, and infinitely 
more mischievous, than if committed by an in- 
dividual. 

Our political sophists may deay this, and gloss 
over the conduct of Popish governments towards 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 61 

our citizens while among them ; but they cannot 
long hide from our people that the eternal laws of 
truth cannot be violated ; nor can their meaning be 
fritteVed away by the technicalities of treaties. 
Truth, whether moral or political, is like the sun 
of heaven ; it is but one — it is the same every 
where. It is sometimes clouded, it is true, but 
these clouds are momentary ; they pass away, and 
it shines again in its native brilliancy. The day 
is fast coming, and I trust it has even arrived, when 
Americans will see, that by a treaty of amity is not 
meant the right of shipping our commodities to 
Popish countries, and receiving theirs in exchange; 
reserving to one party the privilege of denying to 
the other a right dearer to him than all earthly 
considerations ; and which is guarantied to him by 
the eternal laws of God, while the other party is 
under no restraint as to the full and free enjoyment 
of those natural rights. And here, I beg leave to 
say to our legislators, that Protestant Americans, 
upon due reflection, will not long give their assent 
to any treaty, nor form an alliance with any coun- 
try, which shall deny them the free exercise of 
their religion. 

The American, w^ho will enter into an alliance 
with the Pope, or a Popish country, explicitly 
agrees to deny his God, and forswear the religion 
-of his forefathers. He virtually consents that the 
party with which he makes the agreement shall be 
privileged to curse and damn him, his country, his 
religion, and his rights. This needs no proof. 
Look around you, and see your citizens in Mexico 
denying their God by submitting to Popish laws, 
which forbid their worship according to the dic- 
tates of their conscience. Were your puritan fore- 
fathers to witness this, would they not exclaim, 
6 



62 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

^^ Shame upon our degenerate sons, who will barter 
their religion and their birthright for the petty 
advantages of commerce ! " No wonder that Popish 
priests and Popish presses should call Americans 
cowards and the so7is of cowa?^ds. Who but a 
coward, and what but a nation of cowards, would 
surrender that liberty of conscience which, their 
forefathers purchased at the price of blood? This 
Americans do by assenting to a treaty Avith ^ny 
country which does not guarantee to them the 
right of worshipping God without hindrance. 
Americans will not forget, though they cannot 
too often be reminded of the fact, that those coun- 
tries where their feelings are thus outraged are, de 
facto, governed by the Pope and his vicegerents, 
whose actions for centuries back have proved them 
to have been no other than conspirators against the 
improvement and happiness of the human race. 
What were the means by which they Conducted 
their governments ? The very same that they are 
now in every Roman Catholic country, all over 
the globe ; craft, dissimulation, oppression, extortion, 
and above all, fire, faggot, and the sword. There 
is not an article of their faith, nor a sacrament of 
their church, which is not enforced by curses, as I 
shall show in the sequel. These vicegerents of 
the humble Redeemer have the insolence to ape 
the very thunders of heaven. History informs us, 
that their robes have been crimsoned in blood. 
Their images of saints, some of which I have seen 
in Mexico, made of solid gold, and many of them 
six feet high and well-proportioned, were wrung 
from the poor. 

Many of those countries, which they now pos- 
sess, and where God and nature have scattered 
plenty, have been made barren by Popish avarice, 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 63 

and the licentiousness of its priests. The fields, 
which laughed with plenty, they have watered with 
hunger and distress. They found the world gay 
with flowers, and with roses: they dyed it with 
blood. They and their doctrines acted upon it 
like the blast of an east wind. Popery, since the 
eighth century in particular, has been what a pes- 
tilence or conflagration is to a city. 

Come with me, in imagination, to Italy, and 
judge for yourselves. Pass on with me, to Spain, 
Portugal, South America, and you will see that I am 
not exaggerating. You will find that I have only 
told truth, but not the whole truth. No tongue can 
tell it. We have no language to express it. I will 
give you a few instances of the fruits of Popery in 
the neighboring island of Cuba. What I am about 
stating has come under my own observation ; and 
is, besides, a matter of record, and accessible to 
many. The natives of Cuba pay fifteen millions 
per annum to her most Christian Majesty, the 
queen of Spain. They support an army of sixteen 
thousand men, every one of whom is a native of 
old Spain, kept there for the sole purpose of ex- 
torting this enormous annual tribute. The number 
of priests there is immense. They, too, must be 
supported at the point of the bayonet. These 
priests are known to b^ the most profligate vaga- 
bonds in creation. And why, it will naturally be 
asked, should such men be tolerated? Why supply 
them with money to gamble at the faro table, at 
cock-fights and bull-fights ? The reason is plain ; 
they act as spies for the Pope, who, in reality, 
manages the government of old Spain, and con- 
trives to draw, from that already impoverished and 
distracted country, the last dollar of a people whom 
God has endowed with every virtue, and a capacity 



64 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

of cultivating them, had not the curse of Popery 
fallen upon them. 

Such is the avarice of the Popish church and 
Popish tyrants, that, if a farmer in Cuba kills even 
a beef for his own use, he must pay the govern- 
ment ten per cent, upon its value. When I weis in 
Cuba, the farmer must pay ten and a half dollars 
duty upon every barrel of flour imported into the 
island ; when he might raise, in the field, before his 
own door, the finest wheat in the world, if the gov- 
ernment would let him. Such are but a few of the 
blessings of Popish goverments. Do Americans 
desire this republic reduced to such a state of vas- 
salage as this ? or will you profit by these lessons, 
which experience is daily teaching you ? Wherever 
you turn your eyes, and see Popery in the ascendant, 
you will find it the Pandora's box, out of which 
every curse has issued; without even leaving hope 
behind. It should, therefore, be suppressed on its 
appearance in any country. It should be the duty 
of every good man to extirpate it, and sweep it, if 
possible, from the face of the globe. It is nothing 
better than a political machine, cunningly devised, 
for the propagation of despotism. It is the mas- 
terpiece of Satanic wickedness. Execrated and 
exploded be this infernal machine ! and thanks 
forever be to that God, who has shown me its in- 
tricacies, in time to save me from becoming what, 
I know of my own knowledge, Roman Catholic 
priests are — hypocrites, infidels, and licentious 
debauchees, under the mask of sanctity and holi- 
ness. Their religion is supported by curses^ as I 
have before stated, and will now prove from the 
doctrines of their own church. The reader has al- 
ready been told, that the Popish church maintains 
the doctrines that a belief in seven sacraments is 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 65 

necessary to salvation. These sacraments are desig- 
nated as follows : Baptism^ Confirmation^ Eucha^ 
rist, Penance^ Extreme Unction^ Holy Orders^ and 
Mati^imony, And she enforces this by curses, I have 
ah-eady enumerated the curses with which she en- 
forces her belief in baptism. The next sacrament 
is Confirmation, enforced by the following eloquent 
curses, pronounced by the infallible council of 
Trent : — 

*' 1. Whoever shall say that the confirmation 
of baptized persons is a needless ceremony, and not 
rather a true and proper sacrament : or that ancient- 
ly it was nothing else than a kind of catechizing, 
by which the youth expressed the reason of their 
faith before the church ; let him be accursed ! 

^'2. Whoever shall say that they do despite to 
the Holy Spirit who attributes any virtue to the 
holy chrism of confirmation'; let him be accursed! 

*'3. Whoever shall say, the ordinary minister 
of holy confirmation is not the bishop alone, but 
any mere priest whatsoever ; let him be accursed ! " 

The next sacrament is the Eucharist. The fol- 
lowing is the doctrine of the Romish church in re- 
lation to this : — 

Decree of the Council of Florence for the Instruc" 
tion of the Ar^nenians, 

^' The third is the sacrament of the Eucharist, the 
matter of. which is wheaten bread, and wine from 
the vine; with which, before the consecration, a 
very small quantity of water should be mixed. But 
water is thus mixed, since it is believed that the 
Lord himself instituted this sacrament in wine, 
mixed with water: besides, because this agrees 
with the representation of our Lord's passion : be- 
cause it is recorded that blood and water flowed 
6* 



66 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

forth from the side of Christ : and also because this 
is proper to signify the effect of this sacrament, 
which is the union of Christian people with Christ : 
for water signifies the people, according to Rev. 
xvii. 15. And he said to ?7ie, the waters, ichich 
thou sawest, lohere the harlot sitteth, are peoples, 
and nations, and tongues. 

^^ The form of this sacrament are the words of 
the Saviour, by which this sacrament is performed : 
for the priest, speaking in the person of Christ, per- 
forms this sacrament : for, by virtue of the words 
themselves, the substance of the bread is converted 
into the body, and the substance of the wine into 
the blood, of Christ ; yet so that Christ is con- 
tained entire under the form of bread, and entire 
under the form of wine : Christ is entire also under 
every part of the consecrated host, and of the con- 
secrated wine, after a separation has been made. 
The effect of this sacrament, which it produces 
in the soul of a worthy partaker, is the union of the 
person to Christ," &c. 

Canons of the Council of Trent, concerning the 
Most Holy Sacrament of the Euchai^ist. 

^^ 1. Whoever shall deny that, in the sacrament 
of the most holy Eucharist are contained truly, re- 
ally, and substantially, the body and blood, togeth- 
er with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and therefore the entire Christ, but shall say 
that he is in it only as in a sign, or figure,' or virtue ; 
let him be accursed ! 

'^2 Whoever shall say that in the most holy 
sacrament of the Eucharist, the substance of bread 
and wine remains together with the body and blood 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and shall deny that wonder- 
ful and singular conversion of the whole substance 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 67 

of the bread into the body, and of the whole sub- 
stance of the wine into the blood, only the forms 
of bread and wine remaining, which conversion 
indeed the Catholic church most aptly calls tran- 
substantiation ; let him be accursed ! 

^'3 Whoever shall deny that in the adorable 
sacrament of the Eucharist, the entire Christ is 
contained under each kind, and under the single 
parts of each kind, when a separation is made ; let 
him be accursed ! 

^^ 4. Whoever shall say that the body and blood 
of our Lord Jesus Christ are not present in the ad- 
mirable Eucharist so soon as the consecration is 
f^erformed, but only in the use when it is received, 
and neither before nor after, and that the true body , 
of our Lord does not remain in the hosts, or con- 
secrated morsels, which are reserved or left after the 
communion ; let him be accursed ! 

^^5. Whoever shall say either that remission of 
sins is the principal fruit of the most holy Eucha- 
rist, or that no other effects proceed from it ; let 
him be accursed ! 

^- 6. Whoever shall afRrm that in the holy sacra- 
ment of the Eucharist, Christ, the only-begotten 
Son of God, is not to be adored, even with the ex- 
ternal worship of latria, and therefore that the 
Eucharist is to be honored neither with peculiar 
festive celebration, nor to be solemnly carried about 
in processions according to the laudable and uni- 
versal rite and custom of the church, or that it is not 
to be held up publicly before the people that it may 
be adored, and that its worshippers are idolaters ; let 
him be accursed ! 

" 7. Whoever shall say that it is not lawful that 
the holy Eucharist be reserved in the sacristy, but 
that it must necessarily be distributed to those who 



68 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

are present immediately after the consecration ; or 
that it is not proper that it be carried in procession 
to the sick ; let him be accursed ! 

^^ 8. Whoever shall say that Christ, as exhibited 
in the Encharist, is eaten only spiritually, and not 
also sacramentally and really ; let him be accursed ! 

^' 9. Whoever shall deny that each and every 
one of Christ's faithful, of both sexes, when they 
have attained to years of discretion, are obliged, at 
least once every year, at Easter, to qommune ac- 
cording to the precept of holy mother church; let 
him be accursed! 

'^ 10. Whoever shall say that it is not lawful for 
the officiating priest to administer the communion 
to himself ; let him be accursed ! 

" 11. Whoever shall affirm that faith alone is a 
sufficient preparation for taking the sacrament of 
the most holy Eucharist ; let him be accursed ! 
And lest so great a sacrament be taken unworthily, 
and therefore to death and condemnation, the said 
holy synod doth decree and declare, that sacra- 
mental confession must necessarily precede in the 
case of those whom conscience accuses of mortal 
sin, if a confessor is at hand, however contrite they 
may suppose themselves to be. But if any one 
shall presume to teach, preach, or pertinaciously 
assert, or in publicly disputing, to defend the con- 
trary, let him by this very act be excommunicated." 

Canons of the same Council concer?iing the Com- 
miinion of Children^ and in both Kinds. 

^' 1. Whoever shall say that each and every one 
of Christ's faithful ought to take both kinds of the 
most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, by the com- 
mand of God, or because necessary to salvation ; 
let him be accursed ! 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 69 

^^2. Whoever shall say that the holy Catholic 
church has not been induced, by just causes and 
reasons, to administer the communion to the laity, 
and also to the clergy not officiating, only under 
the form of bread ; or that she has erred in this ; 
let him be accursed ! 

^^3. Whoever shall deny that the whole and 
entire Christ, the fountain and author of all graces, 
is received under the one form of bread, because, 
as some falsely assert, he is not received under both 
kinds, according to the institution of Christ ; let 
him be accursed ! 

" 4. Whoever shall say that the communion of 
the Eucharist is necessary for little children be- 
fore they have attained to years of discretion ; 
let him be accursed! " &c. 

The next in order is Extreme Unction. 

Canons of the Council of Trent concerning 
Extreme Unction. 

*' I. Whoever shall say that extreme unction is 
not truly and properly a sacrament instituted by 
Christ our Lord, and promulgated by the blessed 
apostle James, but only a rite received from the 
fathers, or a human invention ; let him be accursed ! 

''2. Whoever shall say that the sacred anointing 
of the sick does not confer grace, nor remit sins, 
nor raise up the sick, but that it has now ceased, 
as if the gift of healing existed only in past ages ; 
let him be accursed ! 

^^ 3. Whoever shall say that the ceremony of 
extreme unction in the practice which the holy 
Roman church observes, are repugnant to the 
meaning of the blessed apostle James, and that, 
therefore, they are to be changed ; let him be 
accursed ! " 

The sixth sacrament is that of Orders. 



70 



Canons of the Council of Trent cmicerning Orders, 

*^ 1. Whoever shall say that in the New Testa- 
ment, there is not a visible and external priesthood : 
or that there is not any power of consecrating and 
ofTering the true body and blood of the Lord, and 
of remitting and retaining sins r but only the office 
and naked ministry of preaching the gospel ; or 
that they who do not preach are surely not priests; 
let him be accursed ! 

*' 2. Whoever shall say that besides the priest- 
hood there are not other orders in the Catholic 
church, both greater and inferior, by which as by 
certain steps, the priesthood may be attained; let 
him be accursed ! 

'^3. Whoever shall say that orders, or sacred or- 
dination, is not truly and properly a sacrament 
instituted by Christ the Lord ; or that it is a cer- 
tain human invention, devised by men ignorant of 
ecclesiastical things, or that it is only a certain 
ceremony of choosing the ministers of the word 
of God and of the sacraments ; let him be ac- 
cursed ! 

^' 4. Whoever shall say that by sacred ordination 
the Holy Spirit is not given, and that therefore the 
bishops say in vain, Receive the Holy Ghost : or 
that by it character is not impressed : or that he 
who has once been a priest may again become a 
layman ; let him be accursed ! 

'• 5. Whoever shall say that the sacred unction 
which the church uses in holy ordination is not 
only not required, but is contemptible and perni- 
cious ; likewise also the other ceremonies of orders; 
let him be accursed ! 

"• 6. Whoever shall say that in the Catholic 
church there is not a hierarchy instituted by divine 



^ AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 71 

appointment, which consists of bishops, priests, 
and ministers ; let him be accursed ! 

*^ 7. Whoever shall say that bishops are not su- 
perior to priests, or that they have not the power 
of confirming and ordaining; or that which they 
have is common to them with the priests ; or 
that orders conferred by them without the consent 
or call of the people or the secular power, are imll 
and void; or that they who have been neither 
duly ordained nor sent by" ecclesiastical and canon- 
ical power, but come from some other source, are 
lawful ministers of the word and sacraments ; let 
him be accursed ! 

^^ 8. Whoever shall say that the bishops, who 
are appointed by the authority of the Roman pon- 
tiff, are not lawful and true bishops, but a human 
invention ; let him be accursed ! " 

Canons of the Council of Ti^ent concerning 
Marriage, 

^^ 1. Whoever shall say that marriage is not truly 
and properly one of the seven sacraments of tlie 
evangelical laws instituted by Christ the Lord, but 
that it is invented by men in the church and does 
not confer grace ; let him be accursed ! 

^'2. Whoever shall say that it is lawful for 
Christians to have several wives at once, and that 
this is forbidden by no divine law ; let him be 
accursed ! 

^'3. Whoever shall say that only those degrees 
of relationship and affinity, which are expressed 
in Leviticus, can hinder marriage from being con- 
tracted, and annul the contract; and that the 
church cannot disjx^nse in any of them, or appoint 
that more may hinder and annul ; let him be 
accursed ! 

'^4. Whoever shall say that the Church could 



72 ^ SYNOPSIS OF fOPKRY, ♦ 

not constitute impediments annulling marriage', or 
that in cou^ituting tiiem, she has erred ; let him 
be accursed ! 

'' 5. Whoever shall say that the bond of mar- 
riage may be dissolved on account of heresy, or 
mutual dislike, or voluntary absence from the hus- 
band or wife ; let him be accursed ! 

*^ 6. Whoever shall say that a marriage solem- 
nized, but not consummated, is not annulled by^he 
solemn profession of a religious order by one of the 
parties ; let him be accursed ! 

'' 7. Whoever shall say that the church errs, 
when she has taught and teaches that according to 
the evangelical and apostolical doctrine, the bond 
of marriage cannot be dissolved on account of the 
adultery of one or the other of the parties, and 
that neither of them, not even the innocent party 
who has given no cause for the adultery, may con- 
tract another marriage, whilst the party is livings 
and that he commits adultery, who marries another 
after putting away his adulterous wife^ or she, who 
marries another, after putting av/ay her adulterous 
husband ; let him be accursed ! 

'^ 8. Whoever shall say that the church is in 
error when, for many reasons, she decrees that a 
separation may be made between married persons, 
as to the bed, or as to intercourse, either for a cer- 
tain, or an uncertain time; let him be accursed. 

'^ 9. Whoever shall say that the clergy, consti- 
tuted in sacred order, or regulars, who have solemn- 
ly professed chastity, may contract marriage, and 
that the contract is valid, notwithstanding ecclesi- 
astical la^^v, or vow, and that to maintain the oppo- 
site, is nothing else than to condemn marriage ; and 
that all may contract marriage, who do not think 
that they have the gift of chastity, even though 
they have vowed it ; let him be accursed : as God 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 73 

does not deny this to those who seek it aright, nor 
does he suffer us to be tempted above what we are 
able to bear. 

^' 10. Whoever shall say that the married state 
is to be preferred to a state of virginity, or celibacy, 
and that it is not better and more blessed to remain 
in virginity, or celibacy, than to be joined in mar- 
riage ; let him be accursed ! 

'^ 11. Whoever shall affirm that the prohibition 
of the solemnization of marriage, at certain times 
of the year, is a tyrannical superstition^ borrowed 
from the superstitions of the Pagans, or shall con- 
demn the benedictions, and other ceremonies, which 
the church uses at those times ; let him be ac- 
cursed ! 

*^ i2. Whoever shall affirm that matrimonial 
causes do not belong to the ecclesiastical judges ; 
let him be accursed ! " 

The atrocity of the above doctrines, is evident 
to every reflecting mind. Protestants can now see 
for themselves, whether they can safely hold any 
communion with them, or have any confide^nce 
an Roman Catholics. There is not a Protestant 
Christian in the United States, nor in the world, 
who is not publicly and solemnly denounced, as an 
accursed being, by the Roman Catholic church, 
and by each and every one of its members ; but in 
addition to those curses, which I have enumerated, 
there is another more solemn ) one which is anmi- 
alty pronounced against them, by the Pope of Rome, 
and by every bishop and priest in this country. It 
is known by the title of Bulla in cend Domini, 
The curse contained in this bull, is pronounced 
annually at Rome, by the Pope, on Thursday 
before Good Friday. It includes every living 
being who is not a Roman Catholic. AH our pres- 
7 



74 * SYNOrSlG OF P OP Elif, 

idents, vice-presidents, members of congress, gov- 
ernors, magistrates, municipal authorities, officers 
of our navy and armVy all our Protestant clergy- 
men, whether Unitarians, Presbyterians, Episcopa- 
lians, Baptists, or Methodists : and upon all these,, 
without distinction, the Pope of Rome, dressed in 
his royal robes, invokes the curse of Heaven, once 
at least every year. Every priest in the Roman 
church is bound to do the same. It was a part of 
my own duty, and one which I never failed to dis- 
charge, uotil 1 protested against the doctrines of 
the Romish church. The Popish priests never 
deemed it prudent to pronounce this curse publicly, 
in the United States, but while I was among them,, 
we ne^er omitted to do so privately, on the morn- 
ing of Thursday before Good Friday. It com- 
mences- with the following words on. the part of 
the Pope : — 

*' We, therefore, following the ancient custom of 
our predecessors, of holy memory, do firstly — ex- 
communicate and curse, in the name of Almighty 
God, Fath-er, Sou, and Holy Ghost,, and by the au-. 
thority of St. Peter and St. Paul, and by our own 
authority, all Heretics,- Hussites, Wickliffites, Lii- 
therans, Calvinists, Huguenots, Anabaptists, Trinita- 
rians, and all apostates from th^ faith,, and all who 
read their books," &c., &c. This curse includes 
every soul in the United States^ who is not a Roman. 
Catholic. Will you, Americans give these meu 
and their doctrines footing among you ? Will they 
longer dare to curse you and your children with 
impunity ? 

In the 6th section of the above bull, the Pope 
and his priests curse all civil powers, who impose 
taxes without the consent of the Roman court. 

In the 13th section, they curse all who maltreat 



A3 IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 75 

cardinals, bishops, or priests. You are, therefore, to 
take heed and not quarrel with priests, though they 
insult your wives, or debauch your families. In 
the 15th section, all are cursed, who take away 
jurisdiction from the court of Rome, and prefer 
leaving causes of difference between them and 
priests, to our civil tribunals. 

In the 17th section, all are cursed, who- in any 
case appeal to civil tribunals, when the difficulty 
is between Romish priests and citizens. 

In the 18th section, the Pope curses all who take 
away church property. 

In the 19th section, the Pope curses all who, 
without express license from him, impose taxes on 
priests, monasteries, nunneries, or churches. Our 
legislature is sitting while I write. Take heed, 
gentlemen, lest you tax the Roman Catholic bishop 
Fenwick, or any of his priests. Be sure you do not 
tax his real estate, his nunneries, or other property. 
If you do, you are doubly damned. 

In the 20th section, the church curses all judges, 
and magistrates, who shall sit in judgment on 
a bishop or priest, without license from the holy 
see. 

In the 22d section, this bull is declared to be bind- 
ing forever, and it is brought to a conclusion by a 
solemn assurance that if any priest shall violate it, 
he shall incur the wrath of Almighty God, and of 
St. Peter and Paul. 

I would again ask Americans whether Roman 
Catholic priests, or bishop, or the two millions of 
followers which they have in this country, are any 
longer to be trusted. I tell Americans, and I pro- 
claim it to the world, that they are spies upon our re- 
public ; they are the sworn foes of our laws, of our 
principles, and of our government; and they are 
united by the most fearful oath never to rest while 



ib 

our religious liberty lasts, and to use every means 
which ingenuity can devise, and treachery and per- 
jury accomplish, to effect its overthrow, and substi- 
tute in its place, the religion of the Pope ; a religion, 
if such a name can be given to a most infamous 
system of policy, which for sixteen hundred years 
has deluged Europe in blood. 

I make these assertions, not at random, not upon 
hearsay, not upon the authority of Protestant wri- 
ters, but upon that of Roman Catholic theologians, 
and upon my own personal knowledge. I solemnly 
declare it to be my deliberate opinion, that it is the 
duty of all civil governments on the face of the 
earth, to unite in exchiding, from their territories, 
all Roman Catholic priests and bishops, as their 
deadly enemies, and the sworn transgressors of all 
national law ; and for us in this country to counte- 
nance them, while they have any connection with 
the Pope of Rome, or profess to owe him any alle- 
giance, is nothing short of a species of insanity. 
The bull of which I have spoken, is taught in 
every Roman Catholic college in the United States. 
The students in those institutions are educated in 
the belief that their chlirch, which is infallible, re- 
quires of them to be unfaithful to this heretical 
government, and not only that, but to betray it, 
whenever the interest of the church demands it. 

Every Irish Roman Catholic priest, who comes 
to this country, is instructed by his bishop, to pull 
down, if possible, the standard of heresy, which he 
is told he will find waving over the United States, 
and erect in its place that of the Pope, which he 
swears to defend. 

These are the principles of priests and their fol- 
lowers, who are coming amongst you in thousands ; 
whom you have encouraged for the last fifty years, 
until at last, you have emboldened them, by your 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. ' 77 

mistaken sensibility and mock philanthropy, to say 
and proclaim to the universe, Americaiis shanH 
rule us. This was their motto, during the last 
presidential election ; a motto devised and blessed 
by those turbulent demagogues and pensioned 
agents of the Pope, in New York. But they 
are not the only Papists who have proclaimed 
that Americans shall not rule them. The same 
has been done in Philadelphia and Boston. 
These men are at the bottom of all the riots, 
tumults, and popular commotions, v/hich have 
occurred in this country for several years back. 
Witness the disturbances in Philadelphia, in 1821 
and 1822, by an Irish bishop, ki trying to get 
possession, in the name of the Pope, of church 
property, estimated to bp worth over a mil- 
lion of dollars. (I shall refer to this hereafter.) 
Witness the riots in the same city last May, where 
several A^iericans have been sacrificed to the fury of 
a Popish mob. Witness the proceeding in this city 
of Boston, on the occasion of a nun having made 
her escape from the convent in Charlestovvn,to avoid, 
I have no doubt, what delicacy forbade her to men- 
tion. Other causes were assigned for her escape, and 
some were weak enough to deem them sufficient ; 
but from my own knowledge of convents, there can 
be no doubt of the real cause of the escape of the 
virtuous young lady, of whom mention is made. 

Here is another instance of the morbid and mis- 
taken sensibility of many of our people. A certain 
number of Popish agents have applied to our legis- 
lature to build a jail^ which they call a convent, 
in our very midst. To this jail, they attach a 
school, for the education of young ladies, and for 
this ostensible purpose, numbers of older ones are 
kept in the jail or convent, by the Pope's ligents. 



78 • SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

The young ladies, who are sent to this school, are 
treated with kindness and attention ; every thing is 
done to please, to flatter them, and even to cultivate 
their minds. The interior of the jail or nunnery is 
depicted in the most delightful colors. The hap- 
piness of the inmates is said to be equal to the 
saints in paradise. No opportunity is lost to impress 
on the minds of their pupils, the temporal as 
well as eternal beatitudes of this convent, until, 
finally, the young minds of the scholars become 
perfectly enchanted, and, in the full glow of their 
youthful imagination, they determine to become 
NUNS. This step, too, they are taught to take with 
apparent caution ; they must serve a noviciate, go 
through all the ceremony of wearing a white veil ; 
the old nuns representing to them the happiness 
they are about to enjoy, Avhen they are about to 
assume the black veil. But when this is done, the 
poor innocent victims soon feel the horrors of their 
condition. They are confined to solitary cells, to 
which no one has access but the priests, and thus, 
in our very midst, a free born American citizen is 
seduced from her parents, from her guardians, and 
fellow-citizens, and no one is permitted to go and 
ask her freely how she likes her condition. She is 
confined there with more severity, and watched 
more closely, than any female in a Turkish Seragl- 
io ; and as we all recollect, a few years ago, a Popish 
bishop, Avith his priests, and some thousands of 
their subjects^ viz., Irish Papists, threatened to sack 
the city of Boston, because the people deemed it 
necessary to pull down that synagogue of satan, 
the Charlestown nunnery. I am not an advocate of 
mobs or riots ; I would observe the law of the land, 
and see it enforced at every risk ; but there is a point 
.bX which no man would support even the civil law. 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 79 

There are laws founded upon necessity, and the eter- 
nal laws of morality, which have a paramount claim 
upon our allegiance. Suppose some hoary-headed 
profligate should obtain a charter to build a house 
on Mount Benedict ; suppose further, he attaches a 
school to it, to be governed by the faded victims of 
jiis former dissipation, with a view of making 
money for himself ; suppose he and they had the 
address to gather around them some of the most 
innocent, lovely, and respectable females in the 
country ; let us even suppose that ninety-nine in a 
hundred of those young ladies left that school with 
unblemished reputation and high accomplishments ; 
and we had that evidence that only one in a hundred 
fell victims to the designs of the founders of this 
corrupt institution; who would hesitate to determine 
what should be done with this institution, or this 
nunnery, as Roman Catholic priests would call it? 
An answer is not necessary. But suppose the 
hoary-headed gentleman should apply to the le- 
gislature to rebuild it, would they do so ? There 
was a time when their acquaintance with Popery 
might have induced them to say aye, if such a reso- 
lution were introduced ; but now that they have 
seen Popery in its native colors, withered should be 
the tongue of him who Avould advance such a 
proposition ; and paralyzed should be the arm of the 
American who would support it. But it may be 
replied, that the Roman Catholic church is diff'er- 
ent now from what it was in ancient times ; that 
it has essentially changed in its doctrine and in its 
discipline. 

Others may say that Protestants, too, have been in- 
tolerant, and guilty of many cruelties, in the propa- 
gation of their religion. This is freely admitted ; 
but there is this wide diff*erence between the two 
religions. The Popish creed inculcates persecution 



80 

and utter extermination of all who do not believe 
in its doctrines ; while on the contrary, the creed 
of the latter has never, and does not now, inculcate 
any other doctrine, than Jesus Christ, and him cru- 
cified. In plain English, the Romish church curses 
all who differ -from her ; while the Protestant 
church blesses all, though they may be in error, 
and sincerely prays for their conversion. The spirit 
of the latter breathes nothing but love, joy, peace, 
and good will to mankind ; that of the former, mal- 
ice, hatred, ill will, and persecution. This has 
been her uniform theory from the middle of the 
third century, and as I will now show you, from 
the lips of her own divines, and canonized saints, 
her members have never ceased to reduce it to 
practice, Cyril, who is to this day invoked, and 
prayed to as a saint, taught and practised the above 
Romish doctrine. He was bishop of Alexandria, 
in the year four hundred and twelve. There is 
not a Roman Catholic, who is not taught to pray 
to him ; and, of course, they can have no objection 
to my giving him as authority. Whatever St. Cyril 
believed, is believed by Papists now. Whatever 
he did was right, and according to sound doctrine ; 
consequently as Holy Mother, the church, never 
errs, and never can err, it must be right now. Let 
us see what this saint has done and believed, in 
his time. Socrates, a native of Constantinople, 
gives the following account of a portion of the life 
of St. Cyril, and other bishops of Alexandria. I 
take it from his ecclesiastical history. 

The bishops of Alexandria had begun, says Soc- 
rates, to exceed the limits of ecclesiastical power, 
and to intermeddle with civil affairs, imitating, 
thereby, the bishop of Rome, whose sacred author- 
ity had, long since, been changed into dominion 
and empire. 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 81 

The governors of Alexandria, looking upon the 
increase of the Romish episcopal power as a dim- 
inution of the civil, watched the bishops, in order 
to restrain them within the limits of the spiritual, 
and prevent their encroaching on the temporal 
jurisdiction. But Cyril, from the very beginning 
of his episcopacy, bade defiance to civil power, act- 
ing in such manner as showed but too plainly that 
he would be kept within no bounds. Soon after 
his installation, he caused, by his own authority, 
the churches, which the Novitians were allowed to 
have in Alexandria, to be shut up, seized on the 
sacred utensils, and plundering the house of their 
bishop, Theapemptus, drove him out of the city, 
stripped of every thing he possessed. Not long after 
this, Cyril put himself at the head of a Christian 
mob, and, without the knowledge of the governor, 
took possession of the Jewish synagogue, drove the 
Jews out of Alexandria, pillaged their houses, and 
allowed the Christiajis — all Papists — who were 
concerned with him in the riot, to appropriate to 
themselves all their effects. This the governor 
highly resented, and not only rebuked Cyril very 
severely, for thus encroaching on his jurisdiction, 
and usurping a power that did not belong to him, 
but wrote to the emperor, complaining of him for 
snatching the sword of justice from him, to put it 
into the hands of the undeserving multitude. 

This occasioned a misunderstanding, or rather 
an avowed enmity between St. Cyril and the gov- 
ernor. With the saint sided the clergy, the greater 
part of the mob, and the monks; with the gov- 
ernor, the soldiery and the better class of citizens. 
As the two parties were strangely animated against 
each other, there happened daily skirmishes in the 
streets of Alexandria. The friends of the gov- 



82 

ernor, generally speaking, made their party good, 
having the soldiery on their side. But one day, as 
the governor was going out in his chariot, attended 
by his guards, he found himself, very unexpectedly, 
surrounded by no fewer than five hundred monks. 
The monks were, in those days, the standing army 
of the bishops, but are now of the Pope's alone. 
The monks in the service of St. Cyril, having sur- 
rounded the governor's chariot, dispersed the small 
guard that attended it, fell upon him, dangerously 
wounded him, and determined to put an end to the 
quarrel between him and St. Cyril, by taking his 
life. 

The citizens, alarmed at his danger, flew to 
his rescue, put the cowardly monks to flight, and 
having seized on the monk by whom the governor 
was wounded, delivered him into his hands. The 
governor, to deter others, caused the monk to be 
put to death. But St. Cyril, partly to reward the 
zeal which the monk had exerted in attempting to 
assassinate his antagonist, caused him to be honored 
as a holy martyr. The partizans of St. Cyril, en- 
raged at the death of the monk, and under the 
advice of this Romish saint, determined to revenge 
it ; and the person they singled out among the 
friends of the governor to wreak their rage and 
revenge on, was one who, of all the inhabitants of 
Alexandria, deserved it the least. This was the 
famous and celebrated Hypatia, the wonder of her 
age for beauty, for virtue, and knowledge. She 
kept a public school of philosophy in Alexandria, 
where she was born, and her reputation was so 
great, that not only disciples flocked from all parts 
to hear her, but the greatest philosophers used to 
consult her as an oracle, with respect to the most 
abstruse points of astronomy, geometry, and the 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 83 

Platonic philosophy, which she was particularly 
well versed in. Though she was very beautiful, 
and freely conversed witli men of all ranks, yet 
they were so awed by her known virtue and mod- 
esty, that none ever presumed to show, in her pres- 
ence, the least symptom of passion. The gov- 
ernor entertained the highest opinion of her abili- 
ties, often consulted her, and in all perplexed cases 
governed himself by her advice. As she was the 
person in Alexandria whom he most valued, St. 
Cyril and his friends, to wound him the more 
effectually, entered into a conspiracy to destroy 
this beautiful and innocent lady. 

This barbarous resolution being taken, as she 
was one day returning home in her chariot, a band 
of the dregs of the people, encouraged and headed 
by one of St. Cyril's priests, attacked her in her 
chariot, pulled her out of it, and throwing her on' 
the ground, dragged her to the great church called 
Csesareum ; there they stripped her naked, and 
with sharp tiles, either brought with them or found 
there, continued cutting, tearing, and mangling her 
flesh, till nature, yielding to pain, she expired under 
their hands. Her death did not satisfy their rage 
and fury. They tore her body in pieces, dragged 
her mangled limbs through all the streets of Alex- 
andria, and then gathering them together, burned 
them. Such was the end of the famous Hypatia, 
the most learned person of the age she lived in ; 
but she was not a Roman Catholic. Can you, 
Americans, believe that this very Cyril is now a 
saint in the Roman Catholic church ; that he is 
daily prayed to, honored, and worshipped by Pa- 
pists ? Can you believe that the Catholics Avhom 
you employ in your houses, the nuns to whom you 
intrust the education of your children, daily invoke 
the intercession of this murderous Cyril ? 



84 SYNOPSIS OF POPER^'^, 

And think you, fellow-citizens, that the spirit of 
the Popish bishop, Cyril, has died with him, or 
that the church, which approved of his conduct, 
would refuse to sanction a similar act at this day ? 
If you do, you are mistaken. Was the conduct 
of Cyril ever censured by the church? Were the 
murders and atrocities which he com.mitted, and 
caused to be committed, even disapproved by the 
holy mother ? If they were, I would ask at what 
council was it done ? Where and when was such 
a council held ? Who was the presiding Pope ? 
The fact is, so far from incurring the displeasure 
of the Romish church, this notorious Popish mur- 
derer of Jews and heretics was canonized and 
sainted; and similar distinctions would be now 
awarded to him who would commit similar crimes, 
if his holiness the Pope deemed it prudent to have 
such crimes committed. 

We saw an instance of the spirit which act- 
uated Cyril, some years ago, in this city, when, 
in the case of the Ursuline Convent, to which I 
have already referred, every Papist within fifty 
miles of Boston, who was able to bear arms, volun- 
teered his aid to his bishop, in taking vengeance 
upoQ our citizens, merely because they would not 
sanction among them the existence of a house, 
called a nunnery, and used as a jail, for the con- 
finement of some of our most virtuous females, 
against their will. Had Miss Reed, who escaped 
from that den of profligacy, been caught by her 
Popish pursuers, and without the knowledge of our 
citizens, what would have been her fate ? She 
might not have been torn to pieces, as Hypatia was, 
but her torments wonld not have been less cruel. 
She would have been kept upon her bare knees, 
perhaps ten hours in the twenty-four, for months. 



.>S IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 85 

She would be obliged to pray to the same aS'^. 
Cyril, and a string of such vagabonds, for the re- 
mission of her sins. She would be compelled to 
kiss the ground and lick it with her tongue, at 
stated intervals, and bread and water her diet, until 
the zeal of her holy confessors was perfectly satis- 
fied. And if those who aided her escape were de- 
tected, what would have been their fate ? " Thanks 
to our republican government, they could not be 
punished in this country ; but had they committed 
the deed under a purely Catholic government, the 
infallible church would consign them to the inqui- 
sition, and have broken them upon the rack. 

This is the church, and her members are the men, 
whom you are countenancing amongst you. The 
Romish church never surrendered the right which 
she once claimed of destroying heretics. She only 
suspends it for the moment, until her strength and 
numbers shall enable her to enforce it. But there 
are some who will not believe this, especially 
when Catholic priests and bishops deny it. Many 
Protestants, who are natives of this country, 
and unacquainted with Roman Catholic doc- 
trines, will not believe it. Many, even, of our 
Protestant clergymen will scarcely believe it^ such 
is the. craft and consummate falsehood of priests and 
bishops, that I have never met with one Protestant 
who entertained the most remote idea that keeping 
no faith with heretics, and persecuting them to 
death, formed any portion of the doctrine of the 
church of Rome. 

This is owing to the fact of their being born in 
a free country, at a distance from the seat of Rom- 
ish power, and their having little access and no 
acquaintance with the standard works of Popery. 
Many, even, of the native born Americans, who 
S 



86 SYNOPSIS OF POPEir/j 

have become Roman Catholics, "know little or 
nothing of the doctrines of the church into which 
they have permitted themselves to be seduced. I 
will hazard the assertion, that there are not ten lay 
members amongst them, in the United States, who 
have read the works of Belarmine, the canons, or 
decrees of the various councils that have been held 
in the Popish church, or even the corpus juris ca- 
nonici, containing the decrees of the council of 
Trent. 

If the writings of De La Hogue, used in the 
college of Maynooth, Ireland, or the works of An- 
toine or Den, taught in that college when I was a 
student there, were thoroughly read, and the doc- 
trines contained in those standard works of Popery 
understood, there is not a moral man living who 
would not shun the church of Rome, as a thing 
too unclean, too impure, too licentious, too wicked, 
too corrupt, and of too persecuting a character to 
be allowed to exist at all. This their priests well 
know ; and, having recently discovered that a few 
copies of Den's "Theology" had found their way 
into this country, they have the unblushing effrontery 
to deny that his work was ever approved of by the 
church, or was ever received as such in any college 
in Ireland. I studied in the college of Maynooth, 
and have read speculative theology under Dr. De La 
Hogue, and moral theology under Dr. Antoine, in 
the same class with several priests now in this 
country^ and among other works which we read in 
that class was the " Moral Theology " of the Rev. 
Peter Den ; especially his treatise de Peccatis. 

I have the pleasure of an acquaintance with 
some native Americans who are become Roman 
Catholics. They are men of honor, moral worth, 
and possess highly cultivated minds. They were 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 87 

religious men ; and deeming a connection with 
some ciiurch to be necessary, and seeing nothing 
of the Romish church but its seductive and impos- 
ing ceremonies, they united themselves with it, or, 
if they happened to hesitate in joining it, and 
deemed it necessary to consult with Catholic 
priests and bishops, these crafty Jesuits soon fur- 
nished them with Catholic works manufactured 
for such occasions, and unobjectionable to the most 
pious Christian ; taking good care, at the same 
time, to keep out of their way such works as I 
have alluded to, from w^hich they may learn that 
there is no religion in the Popish church, and 
that it is np more than a political machine, devised 
for the suppression of republicanism, knowledge, 
and the liberties of man. 

Let us pass over the time which intervened be- 
tween the fourth and twelfth centuries. The his- 
tory of the Popes and the Romish church, during 
that period, is replete with crimes committed by 
Popes, and atrocities sanctioned by the church, at 
the bare mention of which humanity shudders. 
The very earth is almost saturated with the blood 
which Popish despots caused to be shed under the 
mask of religion, but, in reality, for the advance- 
ment of their own temporal power. 

I will now show that the spirit of Cyril had not 
died with him. Daring th^ reign of Pope Inno- 
cent III., that holy pontiff discovered that there 
was, in the province of Narbonne and in several 
other provinces of the south of France, a religious 
sect, called the Albigenses, who presumed to differ 
from the Romish church, and had the audacity to 
beliQve that the Bible was the only rule of faith. 
They rejected the external rites of the Romish 
church, except baptism and the Lord's supper. 



88 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

They had no faith in images, indulgences, and 
Other such semi-pagan mummeries. Auricular 
confession and the forgiveness of sins by man they 
rejected as impious. They looked upon nunneries 
as places of sin, instituted by priests, as a sort of 
substitute for the marriage of the clergy. They 
demolished such of them as were in existence 
among them, and declared the marriage of the 
clergy as lawful and honorable. They scouted at 
the idea of the temporal jurisdiction of the Pope 
over the nations of the earth, and looked upon him 
as emphatically the Man of Sin. 

These orimes, of course, were not long over- 
looked by the infallible church I They were here- 
sies. These people were heretics, and the holy 
mother, in the plenitude of her affection for her 
strayed children, determined that they should be 
exterminated. But how was this to be done? 
The holy father, Pope Innocent III., was not 
long in determining. He sent two spies amongst 
them, of the names of Guy and Regnier. These 
were Monks, whose hands were already stained 
with blood. They were empowered by the Pope, 
to use their own discretion in checking the her- 
esy of the Albigenses by fire, sword, faggot, or 
the inquisition, which employed all those means 
upon such occasions. 

The Albigenses however, w^ere so numerous, 
their lives so pure, so chaste and correct, that 
this was not easily accomplished ; and his holiness 
had to preach a crusade against them, and pub- 
lished «i bull addressed to all the authorities of 
southern France, declaring them accursed and ex- 
communicated, and giving absolution to all who 
should murder them and take possession of their 
property. Here are the words of the bull. ^*Ac- 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 89 

cordiag to the canonical sanctions of the holy 
fathers, no faith ought to be kept with those 
who do not keep faith with God, or are separated 
from the communion of the faithful " — Papists. 
*^ We release, by our apostoHcal authority, all 
those who deem themselves bound to them by any 
oath, either of alliance or fealty ; we permit every 
Catholic man to seize their persons, to take their 
lands, and keep them for the purpose of extirpa- 
ting heresy." 

Here, Americans, is a specimen of true, genuine 
Popery, as Innocent expresses it, ^'-sanctioned by 
the canons and holy fathers of the Romish 
church,^^ People of New England, what think 
you of it ? Bear in mind that this is not the act of 
a few fanatics; it is^not the belief of a few zeal- 
ots. If it were, it would be wrong to charge it to 
the Romish church. All denominations have had 
among them fanatics ; but the extravagances of a 
few individuals are not chargeable to the body to 
which they might have belonged. Even our New 
England Presbyterian forefathers had amongv them 
persecutors ; but who, in his sound mind, could 
charge this to the Presbyterian church ? There is 
nothing in their creed or doctrines which sanctions 
the persecution of those who differ from them, and 
there the Romish church diflers from all others. 
The persecution and destruction of heretics, and 
the confiscation of their property, is an zntegTal 
part of the Roman Catholic faith, and the watch- 
word of Papists. 

The crusade against these unfortunate Albigen- 
ses commenced its march about the year 1209. 
Indulgences were offered to all who would unite 
in the war, and history informs us that the Pope 
and his vassals in the church raised an army of 
8* 



90 

monks and pious Papists, amounting to between 
three and five thousand men, who were to serve 
for forty days ; at the termination of which, the 
Pope, in one of his heavenly transports, saw that 
'^ every one of the sect of the Albigenses should be 
massacred." To this army his holiness caused to 
be added, by an offer of indulgences, multitudes 
of -peasants, with scythes and clubs, who were to 
be under the command of monks, and whose pecu- 
har duty it was, to slaughter the wives and chil- 
dren of these heretics^ while their husbands and 
fathers were engaged in the field with their 
adversaries. Horrible ! Yet this is a true picture 
of what has been, and what will be in this country, 
at some future day, should Popery gain the ascen- 
dancy. 

It is much to be lamented that the Christian 
League, as it is termed, had not looked to this, 
in place of going abroad in search of objects 
worthy of their philanthropy. They seem to me to 
have acted like a man who, while his own house 
is in a blaze, runs out to see if there be any of 
his neighbors' houses on fire, and leaves ^his own 
to smoulder into ruins. Assi:iredl3^, such a man 
would not be deemed prudent, nor should he even 
be considered sane. 

Far be it from me to think or speak disrespect- 
fully of the pious and reverend gentlemen who 
compose that league ; but their solicitude for the 
welfare of a foreign country and a foreign people 
appears to me strange, when all their charities are 
much more needed at home. They desire the 
suppression of Popery, especially in Italy, where 
it is kept alive by Austrian bayonets and Popish 
bulls, and where it will live until those bayonets- 
are broken and those bulls are burned. They can 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 91 

no more suppress Popery in Italy, than they could 
confine a fire with a flaxen band. 

The continuance of Popery depends upon this 
country alone. Extinguish it in the United States, 
and it dies every where. The old world is sick of 
it ; it has cursed it long enough. It is for us alone 
to say whether it shall live or die. Americans 
alone can sound the death knell of Popery ; and, 
if this Christian League will unite their energies 
and bring them all to bear, in excluding Popery 
from the United States, they will be conferring a 
blessing, not only upon this, but upon the old world. 

But to return to our subject. Cruel, beyond 
measure, were the sufferings of the Albigenses, a 
few instances of which I beg to lay before my 
readers, as specimens of Popish charity and their 
mode of fulfilling that holy commandment, ^^ Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." When the 
Pope's army arrived at a place called Beziers, the 
citizens were, of course, alarmed. The Pope's 
legate sent many messengers among them, advising 
them to give up such heretics, with their wives 
and children, as continued obstinate among them. 
They replied in the following words — ^'Rather 
than be base enough to do ivhat is required of us, 
and abandon our religious principles, roe will eat 
our children first, and our wives will die loith us.^^ 
On receiving this answer, the Pope's army, or 
rather incarnate devils, rushed upon them so sud- 
denly, and in such numbers, that they had to 
surrender, after little or no resistance. 

There were many among them who were not 
heretics, but, seeing the injustice done to their fel- 
low-citizens, and knowing the purity of their lives, 
united with them in resisting oppression. Some 



92 SYNOPSIS OF POPEllYj 

of the most merciful of the Pope's army, entertain- 
ing scruples as to what should be done to those who 
were not heretics and happened to fall into their 
hands, deemed it a duty which they owed to holy 
mother^ to consult the Pope's legate upon this oc- 
casion ; and what, Christian reader, think you was 
the reply of this representative of the Roman 
Catholic church 1 What was the anewer of this 
imbodiment of Popery? It was what it would be 
this day, under similar circumstances. — " Kill them 
all; the Lord loill kjioio his own ! ''^ At this an- 
swer, the bells rung, by order of this legate, 
and never ceased to toll, until fifteen thousand 
were butchered upon the spot, according to the ac- 
count given by the legate himself; although a 
contemporary historian, named Bernard Itier, and 
much better authority than this blood-thirsty legate, 
informs us that thirty-eight thousand were slaugh- 
tered in cold blood. 

During this time. Pope Innocent and the infalli- 
ble church were not idle in other parts of France. 
Wherever heresy existed, or heretical blood was to 
be shed, there were to be found the representatives 
of the holy church, until not a^vestige of the Prot- 
estant doctrines of the Albigenses was to be seen. 
Nearly all its ministers and its followers suffered the 
most cruel deaths, and their church was drowned 
in the blood of its defenders. But the man of sin 
being still apprehensive that some vestige of Prot- 
estantism might remain, or that the life of some 
unfortunate member of the Albigenses might have 
escaped, the Popish murderers established, in those 
countries, that accursed tribunal, the Inquisition ; 
some of whose members appeared in the guise and 
occupation of farmers, to act as spies among that 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 93 

class of people ; others as merchautSj mechanics, 
ifcc. To these were added female Jesuits, some of 
whom were shop-keepers, milliners, servant-maids, 
&c. ; and, suitably educated, whenever necessary, 
were ready to act their parts well. 

Thus no man was safe. No family, no lady, was 
safe. They dreaded the very air they breathed. 
They knew not when the officers of the inquisition 
would call them from their homes, their children, 
tlieir husbands, and their wives, to be cast into 
the dungeon of the inquisition, without knowing 
their offence, or who accused them. 

This was Popery in the twelfth century ; this was 
Popery in the fourth century ; and this is Popery in 
the nineteenth century. Americans, are you aware 
that there are Jesuit nuns now in this country ? 
Are you aware of the reasons why they are so 
anxious to get Protestant rather than Catholic 
scholars into their schools ? The reason is this ; 
they are in this country spies upon your actions. 
Your thoughts, your designs, your influence, the 
probable amount of your wealth, and your political 
opinions, are known to your children. These Jes- 
uit nuns worm themselves into your confidence ; 
the young hearts of their pupils are soon laid bare 
to these artful hypocrites ; and before you scarcely 
notice the absence of your children, your domestic 
secrets are known to some Popish agent, who makes 
such use of them as the holy church may direct. 
This is done daily. I make this statement of my 
own knowledge, and I warn you, if you value your 
domestic happiness, or the peace and harmony of 
your children, never permit one of them, male or 
female, to enter a school kept by nuns or Jesuits. 

From these observations, the reader must have 
seen that Popery, in its teachings and actions,- is, 



94 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

and has been, the same always. What, then, be- 
comes of the assertions, so frequently made by Ro- 
man Catholic priests and bishops, that the doctrmes 
of the church, in relation to heretics, have been re- 
laxed ? Certain it is, at all events, that there has 
been no mitigation in the treatment of heretics 
down to the thirteenth century. Let us come 
down a httle farther, and see if any had taken place 
during the thirteenth century. We discover none 
whatever. 

It was during this century, that the ^^ Greater 
Excommunication," as it is called, was pronounced 
by the Pope, and the whole church, against all 
who should interfere with the clergy in the exer- 
cise of their temporal or spiritual rights. The 
curse was pronounced, by every parish priest, 
throughout the Papal world, four times a year, — 
Christmas^ Easter] Pentecost^ and All-Halloivs 
day. The curse is in the following words, and is 
now repeated on the same days, by the Pope and 
all the priests and bjshops of the Romish church, not 
publicly, — that they dare not do, — but in private. 
^^ Let them be accursed, eating and drinking, walk- 
ing and sitting, speaking, and holding their peace, 
waking and sleeping, rowing and riding, laughing 
and weeping, in house and in field, in water and on 
land, in all places ; cursed be their heads and their 
thoughts, their eyes and their ears, their tongues 
and their lips, their teeth and their throats, their 
shoulders and their breasts, their feet and their legs, 
their thighs and their inward parts ; let them re- 
main accursed, from the sole of their foot 'to the 
crown of their heads ; and just as this candle (the 
cursor has a lighted candle in his hand, which he 
extinguishes) is deprived of its present light, so 
let them be deprived of their souls in hell." 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 95 

Such is the curse which the Pope pronounced 
against all heretics in the thirteenth century ! and 
however surprised you may be, a similar one is 
pronounced once a year against all Protestants. 
There are many Americans who cannot believe 
that such a curse as the above, has ever been pro- 
nounced against a fellow-being. I have conversed 
with some intelligent Protestants in this city, who 
doubted whether such an anathema was ever 
uttered, and seemed struck with horror, as well as 
surprise, when I informed them that it was pro- 
nounced against myself in Philadelphia in presence 
of, at least, three thousand people. The reader 
must know, by this, that I am a heretic, and look 
upon the introduction of Popery into the United 
States, as the greatest evil which Providence has 
permitted to fall upon us. Arise, fellow-citizens, in 
the fuhiess of your power, — every Protestant in 
this country is a heretic, as well as myself We are 
all annually cursed and damned by 'a set of Popish 
agents, bishops, and priests ; men who, from my 
own personal acquaintance with them, I know to 
be unworthy of your friendship or your support ; 
who walk your streets with apparent sanctimonious- 
ness, but whose lives in private are such as delicacy 
forbids me to mention. 

These men, under pretence of being democrats, 
are attacking your liberties with the club of Her- 
cules. They are acquiring gigantic force. You 
have recently witnessed the truth of this assertion ; 
they fancied they had strength enough to cut you 
down as the legate of Pope Innocent did the Al- 
bigenscs in the twelfth century. They bid defiance 
to reason, argument, and the law of yoin* land ; and 
it grieves me to see every thing yielding to their 
power, as chaff before the wind. But Providence 



96 

interposed, and these miserable dupes of Romish 
priests received a check, which, if followed up, 
will have a salutary effect in future. But, I pray 
you, be on your guard ; watch the movements of 
Papists among you ; have no confidence in them ; 
have as little as possible to do with them. Trust 
them in nothing which may either directly or in- 
directly involve their religion. I most solemnly 
appeal to our national and state legislatures, to ex- 
clude them from every office of honor, profit, or 
trust, while they have any connection whatever, 
spiintual or temporal^ with the Pope of Rome. 
Believe them not, when they tell you that their 
allegiance to the Pope is only spiritual. I under- 
stand what they mean by spiritual allegiance. 

From what has been stated, it is clear that no mod- 
ification had taken place in Popish pretensions dur- 
ing the thirteenth century, neither had the church 
relaxed one iota in her persecutions of heretics. On 
the contrary, her cruelties increased-the declarations 
of Popish priests to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Let us now see what has been the conduct of 
the Popish church towards heretics, from the latter 
end of the thirteenth century to the conclusion of 
the fourteenth. 

How was the illustrious John Wickliffe, pro- 
fessor of divinity in Oxford, treated by the church 
of Rome, during the reign of Boniface IX. But 
let us first see what the crimes of Wickliffe 
were, for which he had been so severely punished 
by the holy Roman church. The illustrious and 
good Wickliffe, the founder of the Reformation, 
whose very name every Christian venerates, main- 
tained, 1st, That the Scriptures contain all truths 
necessary to salvation ; 2d, That in the Scriptures 
only, is to be found, a perfect rule of Christian 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 97 

practice ; Sd, He denied the authority of the Pope 
in temporal matters ; 4th, He maintained that the 
Pope was the Man of Sin, the son of perdition, to 
which St. Paul alluded, '^sitting as God in the 
temple of God." As soon as the opinions of Wick- 
liffe were ascertained, Gregory XL, the ruling 
Pope, addressed a bull to the primate of England, 
ordering him to have Wickliffe arrested and impris- 
oned, until he received further instructions. 

The popularity of Wickliffe was such, that this 
step was considered dangerous ; ancf we find that 
nothing further was done to this eminently pious 
man, than banishing him from the university of 
Oxford into private life, where he died in peace, and 
went to his grave with the blessings of the good 
and the virtuous. But this did not satisfy the 
Pope, nor the infallible church. O, no. The holy 
mother never forgives a heretic, dead or alive. As 
soon as Wickliffe departed this life, in the sixty-first 
year of his age, the church and Papists exhibited 
the wildest symptoms of joy. One of their writ- 
ers, in giving an account of his death, uses the fol- 
lowing language : ^' On the day of St. Thomas, 
the martyr, that limb of the devil, enemy of the 
church, deceiver of the people, idol of heretics, 
mirror of hypocrites, author of schism, sower of 
hatred, and inventor of lies, John Wickliffe, was, by 
the immediate judgment of God, suddenly struck 
with a palsy, which seized all the members of his 
body, when he was ready to vomit forth his blas- 
phemies against the blessed St. Thomas, in a ser- 
mon which he had prepared to preach that day! " 

But holy mother was not yet satisfied. She had 
not the felicity of hanging Wickliffe ; her ears 
were not delighted with his groans upon the rack ; 
9 



98 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

she did not hear his flesh hissing amid the flames 
of the faggot, nor his bones breaking upon the 
wheel ; she must, however, have all the revenge 
left to satiate her malice. Thirty years after the 
death of Wickliff*e, the infallible council of Con- 
stance, at which the Pope presided, passed an order 
that the body and bones of John Wickliff'e, if they 
might be known and discerned from the bodies of 
faithful people — Papists — should be taken from 
the ground and thrown far away from the burial 
of any churcTi, according to the canon laws and 
decrees. 

This decree was not put in execution for thirteen 
years afterwards. His grave was then opened and 
his body disinterred with great solemnity, and in the 
presence of the Catholic bishop of Lincoln, it was 
publicly burned, and the ashes thrown into a neigh- 
boring rivulet. But the indignities off'ered to 
Wickliffe, while living, and after his death, were 
not sufficient to appease the malice of Papists. 
Blood, and blood alone, could satiate their thirst for 
revenge. His followers were hunted up and mer- 
cilessly put to death. Among the first of his fol- 
lowers, who suff*ered, was Lord Cobham, a noble- 
man, distinguished for his valor, devotion to his 
country, and true piety. His character was with- 
out blemish, and his morals and patriotism un- 
doubted ; but he was a heretic ; he was among the 
followers of Wickliffe ; he believed in the Holy 
Scriptures. This was crime enough, and for this 
^he was excoynniunicated. Cobham appealed to the 
Pope, but the appeal was refused : he was cited 
again ; he was offered absolution, if he would sue 
for it, and submit to the Popish church. This he 
refused ] the consequence was, he was thrown into 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 99 

prison, from which he escaped and was not retaken 
for nearly four ^^ears, he was, however, finally cap- 
tured after a most heroic resistance. 

He might have escaped again, being an over- 
match for his captor, had not a pious Roman Cath- 
olic woman^ while he was nobly defending him- 
self, taken up a stool, and with a desperate blow, 
broken both his legs. In this condition he was 
recommitted to prison until he was sentenced to 
death foi^ his heresy. The sentence was, '• that 
he should be drawn from his place of confinement 
through the city of London, to Temple Bar, there 
to be hanged, and burned hanging." The historian 
Bale gives a most affecting account of his exe- 
cution. 

'^ On the day appointed," says Bale, ^4ie was brought 
out of the Tower with his arms bound behind him, 
having a very cheerful countenance. Then he was 
laid upon a hurdle as though he had been a most 
heinous traitor to the crown, and so drawn forth 
into St. Giles's field, where they had«get up a new 
gallows. When he arrived at the place of exe- 
cution, and taken from the hurdle, he fell down de- 
voutly on his knees, and prayed God to forgive his 
enemies. Then he stood up and beheld the multi- 
tude, exhorting them, in the most godly manner, to 
follow the laws of God, written in the Scriptures, and 
to beware of such teachers as they see contrary to 
Christ, in their conversation and living, with many 
other special councils. Then was he hanged up 
there, by the middle, in chains of iron, and so con- 
sumed alive in the fire, praising the name of the 
Lord, so long as life lasted. In the end he com- 
mended his soul into the hands of God, and so, most 
Christianly, departed home, his body being re- 
solved to ashes," 



100 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY. 

Thus was a nobleman, and a noble Cjiristian, 
most barbarously put to death for believing that the 
Bible contained God's truth ; and therein differing 
from the Roman church, which teaches that the 
traditions of the fathers, and dreams of m.onks, are 
of equal authority. 

Followers of Wickliffe, — and there are many of 
you in this country, who are an honor to his 
name, — have you ever reflected that there are 
nearly two millions of Papists in these United 
States, who entertain the same belief that the mur- 
derers of Cobham did ; who believe that you are all 
exconuniuiicated.^ as he was. aad who, if they had 
the power, would consign yourselves, your wives, 
and children, to the same fate ? and who are taught 
by their church, that, in so doing, they would be 
serving God? Romish priests may deny this. 
They do well. Otherwise, an indignant populace 
would tear them to pieces, or at least banish them 
from this land of freedom. 

But I tell the priest or bishop, who dares deny 
it, that they are liars, — wilful and deliberate liars. 
I too have been a priest, and I solemnly declare • to 
the world, and to my fellow-citizens of the United 
States in particular, that to keep no faith ivitk her- 
etics, but to destroy them^ is one of the most solemn 
duties of a Catholic ; and I go further, and state to 
you, that if a bishop or priest denies this, upon 
oath, you are not to believe him : his church re- 
quires from him to keep no faith with heretics, but 
to destroy and extirpate them. It allows him also 
to deny, under oath, the existence of such an obli- 
gation. 

Do you, followers of Wickliffe, require any proof 
of this ? It is a serious charge, and should not be 
lightly made. I therefore refer you to the letters of 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 101 

Martin IV., who was Pope in the year 1417, and 
considered one of the best Popes the Romish 
church ever had. This Pope, in one of his letters 
to the Duke of Lithuania, makes use of the following 
strong and emphatic language. '' Be assured^ thou 
siiinest mortally, if thou keep thy faith loith here- 
tics^ St. Thomas Aquinas teaches the same doc- 
trine. Innocent VIIl., who was Pope in 1484, de- 
clares "that all persons who are bound by any con- 
tract lohalever to heretics are- at liberty to break it, 
even though they had sworn an oath to fulfil it^ 
You here see, that I have done no injustice to Ro- 
man Catholics, in putting you on your guard 
against them, and charging them with a willingness 
to destroy yourselves, your wives and children, as 
heretics, had they power and opportunity of doing 
so. I am supported by the authority of Pope 
Martin V., and Pope Innocent VIII. ; and though 
in your estimation, those blood-thirsty vagabonds 
may give no weight to my testimony, still it cannot 
fail to be highly satisfactory to Papists. Some of 
the Catholics may tell you, that the followers of 
Wickliffe were a seditious people ; that they threat- 
ened to overthrow the civil institutions of the 
country ; that all law and order were set at defiance 
by them ; and that this was the cause of their per- 
secution. This is false in fact — it is historically 
false. 

If the followers of Wickliife, or Lollards, as they 
were called, were disturbers of the peace ; if their lives 
were seditious, disorderly, and rebellious, why were 
they not indicted, under some statute of the realm, 
made and provided to take cognizance of such crimes? 
Why were they not even accused of such crimes? 
Was the meek, mild, and learned John Wickliife, 
accused or indicted for disturbing the peace ? Was 



102 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY5 

it for disturbing the peace, that his venerable bones 
were disinterred thirty years after being deposited in 
the cold grave ? Was it for disturbing the peace, and 
for riotous proceedings, his bones were subsequently 
burned, and their ashes thrown into the next river ? 
Was it for disturbing the peace, the learned and brave 
Cobham was hung in iron chains, by the middle. 

No such accusation has ever been brought against 
these great and good men, or against thousands 
who suffered with them. They were accused only 
of heresy. Papists were their accusers ; Papists 
were their judges; and Papists were their execu- 
tioners. 

But the malice of those blood-thirsty Catholics 
was not even then satiated. It is as fresh now^ as 
it was then. Papists are not content, that hundreds 
of years ago, Wickliffe and hi§ followers should be 
persecuted, and the greater portion of them massa- 
cred and burned. Their memories, also, are objects 
of Popish hatred, even to this day on which I 
write. They represent them as enemies of the 
human race. As despisers of chastity and moral- 
ity. You will probably see these charges advanced 
against them in the Popish presses throughout the 
United States. But recollect, Americans, thd^t age 
does not improve the piety of Papists. The older 
holy mother gets, the harder becomes her heart, 
and the more bitter her virulence. I might satisfy 
you, if necessary, on the testimony of the most . 
respectable Protestant writers, that there lived not 
in the world, a people more simple, more pious, or 
virtuous than the Waldenses, or WicklifBtes. It may 
be said of them, with truth, ^^ qualis pater tales 
jilii,^^ But I will not refer to Protestant authority; 
knavish, lying, Popish priests may question it ! I 
refer you, for the character of this persecuted 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 



103 



people, to an early Popish historian, Florimond — 
History of Heresy, book vii. ch. 7. 

'' They " — the Waldenses — says this writer, 
^* have nothing in their mouths but Christ the Sav- 
iour — they know nothing else than Jesus Christ. 
These people read the Bible continually, in such a 
manner that they know all the books of it by heart." 
Horrid people these WicklifRtes must be, to read 
the Bible until they know it by heart ! And as 
these Bible-reading and Bible-loving p'eople now 
constitute a vast majoritj^ of our citizens, I call up- 
on them to rise in the full force of their moral pow- 
er, and ward off from themselves and their children, 
the curse of Popery, or the fate of Wickliffe and 
his followers will assuredly be theirs. Many of 
you, Americans, me followers of Wickliffe. You 
believe as he believed ! You live as he lived ! You 
love peace as he loved it. Do you wish to con- 
tmue as you are now ? Or will you permit a flood 
of vile priests, monks, and nuns, to overrun your 
country, and seduce your children from the paths 
of virtue, in which your own example and the 
perusal of their Bibles have taught them to 
walk ? 

I now call your attention to the belief and prac- 
tice of the Romish church in the fifteenth century, 
and you will find that heresy and heretics were 
still persecuted by her. Witness the conduct' of 
Pope Innoceni VHI. toward the Vaudois. He 
sent one of his Jesuit legates amongst them, with 
instructions to prevail on Louis XH. to extirpate 
them from his dominions, without even hearing any 
deputies which they might send him. The answer 
of Louis did him much credit — '^ Though I were 
at war with a Turk or the devil, I would hear what 
he had to say for^ himself " They accordingly 



104 



SYNOPSIS OF POPERY. 



made their defence ; and, npon this, the good King 
Louis sent commissioners to examine the state of 
things among them. The following was their re- 
port, as history informs us : •' Having made a strict 
inquiry into their mode of Hving, we cannot dis- 
cover the least shadow of the crimes imputed to 
them. On the contrary, it appears that they pious- 
ly observe the Sabbath, baptize their children after 
the manner of the primitive church, and are thor- 
oughly instructed in the doctrine of the apostles' 
creed, and in the law of God." On hearing this 
report, the king exclaimed, in a passion, addressing 
himself to the Pope's legate — "By the holy mother 
of God, these heretics, whom you and the Pope 
urge me to destroy, are better men than you or my- 
self." He, however, soon departed this life, and 
every man acquainted with history knows what 
their sufferings were from the time of his death 
down to the days of Cromwell, who, whatever his 
faults may have been, fired with indignation at the 
barbarities committed by the Romish church, inter- 
posed in behalf of those persecuted people, and 
called upon Protestant princes and sovereigns to 
aid him in protecting them. 

I will not burden the reader with a history of 
the sufferings of these people. It is familiar even to 
our schoolboys. I must, however, repeat the fact, 
that they were persecuted for no other reason than 
because they believed the Bible contained all the 
truths necessary to salv^ation, and because thej^ did 
not believe in all the mummerjes of Popery. Will 
Catholic bishops and priests still continue to assert 
that their church does not teach them to persecute 
heretics, and to hold no faith with them ? Will they 
continue to assert, that the Pope of Rome does not 
claim temporal as well as spiritual jurisdiction over 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 105 

the kingdoms of the earth ? or if they do, are we 
compelled to listen to them ? 

There is scarcely any one who does not recollect 
the conduct of the holy see, as it is nicknamed, 
towards Queen Elizabeth, on her ascension to the 
throne of England. The queen sent a messenger 
to the court of Rome, to inform the Pope of the 
event. This was an act of state courtesy ; but his 
holiness had the insolence to reply to the messen- 
ger who represented his sovereign : '^ Tell your 
mistress that England was held in fief of the apos- 
tolic see ; that she could not succeed, being ille- 
gitimate ; nor could she contradict the declarations 
made in that matter by his predecessors, Clement 
VII. and Paul III. Tell your mistress,'' said this 
insolent ecclesiastic, ^' that it was great boldness in 
her to assume the crown without my consent, for 
which, in reason, she deserves no favor at my 
hands ; yet if she will renounce her pretensions 
and refer herself wholly to me, I would show a 
fatherly affection to her, and do every thing for her 
that could consist with the dignity of the Roman 
see.'''' 

Fellow-citizens, do you want any other proof to 
satisfy you that the Pope of Rome claims universal 
jurisdiction over kings, queens, nations, kingdoms, 
and all mankind? It is only about three hundred 
years since this occurred ; and is there evidence on 
record that the Pope has resigned the prerogative 
of universal dominion which he then claimed? 
You may laugh at the idea of his claiming it over 
this country ; but, mark what I tell you, some suc- 
cessor of the present Pope will not only claim, but 
exercise it in less than half the time that has 
elapsed since the days of Elizabeth. Other objects 
may divert your attention from this subject ; you 



106 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

may sleep on in fancied security, but your sleep 
may be fatal. 

^^ America," as a talented writer (Giustiniani) ex- 
presses it, "is the promised land, the land of the 
Jesuits' operations. To obtain the ascendency, 
they have no need of a mercenary Swiss guard ^ 
or the assistance of the holy alliance^ but a majori- 
ty of votes. 'which can easily be obtained by an 
importation of Roman Catholics from Ireland, Ba- 
varia, and Austria. Rome, viewed at a distance, 
is a colossus ; near at hand, its grandeur diminishes, 
its charm is lost. But the Jesuits are every where 
the same — cunning, immoral, and sneaking in- 
triguers, until they have obtained the ascendency. 
Rome feels her weakness at home ; she knows her- 
self to be a mere political institution, dressed in the 
garment of Christianity. She takes good care to 
uphold that holy mHitia, the Jesuits, in order to 
appear what she is not. It is a strife for existence. 
I am not a politician," says this writer, " but know- 
ing the active spirit of Jesuitism^ and the indif- 
ference of the generality of Protestants, I have 
no doubt whatever, that in te?i years the Jesuits 
will have a mighty influence over the ballot-box, 
and in twenty 'they will direct it according to their 
own pleasure. Now they fawn, in ten years they 
will menace, and in twenty command." 

In this city they not only " fawn," but they have 
proceeded to ^'menace." Some of the knowing 
ones among the Catholics now bctast that they have 
the power to govern this city, and they intend to 
exercise it. This is no idle threat. Even now'^ 
though they are actually less in numerical strength 
in the aggregate, than the Protestants, and pay far 
less for the support of our free schools, they, never- 
theless, have succeeded in depriving Protestant 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 107 

children of the privilege of using the Bible for a 
school-book, as they have been wont to do. Prot- 
estants may sleep on if they will, but they may be 
assured that they are sleeping on the sides of a 
burning volcano, and that ere long they will be 
awakened, but too late, we fear, by the angry 
thunders of the upheaving fires within, which shall 
scathe and desolate the fair heritage they now 
enjoy. 

I entreat you, fellow-citizens, never to forget the 
solemn declaration of the father of your country : 
^'Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, 
(I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the 
jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly 
awake ; since history and experience prove, that 
foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of a 
republican government." This is the warning of 
the immortal Washington, and should not pass un- 
heeded. To the same eff'ect spoke other revolu- 
tionary patriots. Jefl'erson says, ^.^' I hojoe we may 
find' some means in future of shielding ourselves 
from foreign influence, political, commercial, or in 
whatever form it may be attempted. I can scarcely , 
withhold myself from joining in the wi^ of Sila^. 
Deane — that there were an ocean of fire between 
this and the old world." And Madison said, ^' For- 
eign 'influence is truly a Grecian horse to the re- 
public. We cannot be too careful to exclude its 
entrance." 

The cruelty of Papists, the intrigue and craft of 
Popes, the hypocrisy of Jesuits, the d^^nasties which 
they have overthrown, the devastations and carnage 
which they had occasioned, for centuries back, 
were matters of historical notoriety, and were well 
known to our pure-minded and clear-headed fore- 
fathers. They dreaded similar occurrences in this 



108 

happy republic, which they have bequeathed to us 
as their trustees, to be handed down to posterity; 
and hence arose their warnings to be on our guard 
against all foreign interference with our institutions 
or our country. 

Ponder upon those warnings, and let each and 
every Protestant in the Union pledge himself to 
guard our liberties, as the apple of his eye. I speak 
from experience. I am myself a foreigner by birth, 
though a resident of this country for thirty years. 
My life has been a checkered one. Born a Roman 
Catholic in the south of Ireland, educated a Ro- 
man Catholic priest, officiating in that capacity 
for some years, here, as well as in my native eoun-^ 
try, and for many years a member of the bar in 
South Carolina and Georgia, I could not fail to 
acquire a correct knowledge of the doctrines and 
practices of the Romish church. The result of my 
experience is, that the doctrines of the Roman 
Catholic church are fatal to the morals of any peo- 
ple ; at variance with sound national policy and 
pure religion. It is a rank and poisonous weed,, 
which will fiourish even in the soil of liberty. 
Would that I could eradicate it ! Would that you 
would enable me to tear up this Upas, which is 
spreading its poison, from one end of our land to 
the other ! Would that you could aid me in muz- 
zling those Popish bloodhounds, who are freely cours- 
ing over our eastern mountains and western valleys ! 
Already have they scented blood, and I warn you 
to be on your guard or they will scent more. 

I am no sectarian ; I am not the tool of any 
party, either in church or state. I have never 
asked the countenance or support of any religious 
denomination, nor has any ever been tendered to 
me. I have stood alone in my opposition to that 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 109 

hydra-headed monster, Popery. There is no abuse 
which I have not received; no cahnnny which has 
not been heaped upon me; no crime which they 
have not accused me of ; no scurrilous epithet 
which they have not apphed to me. All this I have 
met single-handed ; but I would bear it again, 
rather than submit to the iniquitous doctrines 
of Popery. I would bear it again, rather than sub- 
mit, as noAive Americans have done, and are doing, 
to be publicly denounced, as cowards and so7is of 
cowards and pirates. 

But, fellow-citizens, they do not consider you 
cowards and pirates alone ; they will, by-and-by, 
apply to you a term, which you will better deserve. 
It is sweet, it is a euphonious name, and I trust 
you will bear it with as much Christian philan- 
thropy, as you have that of cowards, and pirates — 
Fools. It is the only ignominious term, in the 
English language, which they have not applied to 
myself, and I assure my fellow-citizens, natives of 
this country, that if you are willing to be governed 
by the Pope of Rome, and his priests, and bishops, 
I shall never question your paramount claim to this 
preeminent distinction. Can you bear the follow- 
ing opprobrious language applied to you by the 
Jesuit, now the Boston Pilot, the organ of the 
bishop of that city. ^' How in the name of con- 
science," says this Popish organ, '^ can a man have 
the impudence to find fault with honest emigrants, 
whose own fathers were emigrant pirates ? '''^ You 
are also complimented by the Literary and Catholic 
Sentinel, another Popish press, in Philadelphia. 
That blessed organ of Popery, the Sentinel, in its 
comments upon a sermon delivered by that elo- 
quent Presbyterian divine, McCalla, thus eulogizes 
New England. He, Mr. McCalla, knew the char- 
10 



110 SYNOPSIS OF PO^ERYj 

acter of his New England audience, that their 
minds were warped by fanaticism, darkened by 
bigotry, and vitiated by the abhorred, and atrocious 
principles inculcated by the vile and sanguinary 
wretches^ called the Pilgrim Fathers. He well 
knew that the mental capacity of the generahty of 
his hearers were chained down by ignorance." 

Very flattering this, especially to Bostonians, 
and their puritan fathers. Their fathers were san- 
guinary wretches, if we believe Papists, and the 
people of Boston are an ignorant set of boobies.- 
You, Americans, may bear all this; you know not 
the designs of Popery, but I do ; and v/hile I have- 
liberty to write, I will write for liberty, and in 
opposition to Popery. Truth may be unpalatable 
to Papists, but it is nry duty to record it. 

Among the instructions which I received from 
my bishop in Ireland, when he sent me out to this 
country as a Catholic priest, was one to which I 
beg to call your attention. The same is given to 
every priest in the United States. ^'^Let it be your 
first duty to extirpate heretics, but be cautious as 
to the manner of doing it. Do nothing without 
consulting the bishop of the diocese^ in which you 
may be located ; and if there be no bishop there^ 
advise with the metropolitan bishop. He has his 
instructions from Rome, and he understands the 
character of the people. Be sure not to permit the 
members of our holy church, v/ho may be under 
your charge, to read the Bible. It is the source of 
all heresies. Whenever you see an opportunity of 
building a church, m.ake it known to your bishop. 
Let the land be purchased for the Pope, and his 
successors in office. Never yield or give up the 
divine rights which the head of the church has, by 
virtue of the Keys, to the government of North 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. Ill 

America, as well as every other country. The con- 
fessional will enable you to know the people 
by degrees ; with the aid of that holy tribunal^ 
and our bishops, who are guided by the spirit of 
Godj we may expect, at no distant day, to bring 
over North America to the bosom of our holy 
church." 

This needs some explanation. By extirpating 
heresy, he meant the conversion of heretics to 
the Romish church, without violence, if possible, 
if not, by such means as the Romish church has 
adopted in all ages. You have already seen what 
these means were — I need not now repeat them ; 
but you shall see them more plainly, when I lay 
before you, as I intend to do hereafter ; the ways 
and means which the church has adopted, to bring 
over the Huguenots from the darkness of Protest- 
ant error, to the glorious light of Popish truth. 

The Bible, as you are aware, is a forbidden 
book in the Romish church. I remember when 
acting as Popish priest, in Philadelphia, having 
ventured to suggest to the very Rev. Mr. De Barth, 
then acting as vicar-general of that diocese, the 
advantages of educating the poor, and circulating 
the Bible among them. He scouted at the idea, 
as heretical, and lodged a written complaint against 
me, before the archbishop of Baltimore, then 
Romish metropolitan. I was reprimanded ver- 
bally, through the aforesaid De Barth. He was too 
crafty to send it in writing ; the Papists were not 
then strong enough to forbid, openly, the reading of 
the Bible. It was then too soon to seal up the 
fountain of eternal life in this free country. The 
most sympathizing Protestants could scarcely be- 
lieve then, that in less than thirty years. Papists 
would not only dare forbid it to be read, by their 



112 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

f 

own people, and in their own schools, but cast it 
out of Protestant schools, as they did the other 
day in New York. What are we coming to, Amer- 
icans ? Your ancestors have come to this country, 
with no recommendations but holy lives ; with no 
fortune but their pious hearts and strong arms ; 
with no treasure but the word of God. 

Will you now permit Papists to cast those Bibles 
out of your schools, to burn them on the public 
streets, as they have done in the state of New 
York, under the inspection of Popish priests, as 
proved on the oath of several respectable witnesses? 
That priest, however, did no more than every 
priest and bishop would do, did he deem it expedi- 
ent ; and here, fellow-citizens, let me assure you, 
that same power which authorizes that priest, or 
any other priest, to burn your Bibles, also author- 
izes him to burn every heretic or Protestant in this 
country. 

The same power which authorizes them to offi- 
ciate as priests, empowers them to destroy heretics^ 
whenever it is expedient ; and is ready to absolve 
them from the commission of this foul deed. Saint 
Thomas Aquinas, in his second book, chapter the 
3d, page 58, says: '^ Heretics, may justly be 
killed.'^ But you will answer, there is no danger 
of this. They can never acquire the power to 
enact any laws in this country which would sanc- 
tion such a doctrine. How sadly mistaken you 
are ! How lamentably unacquainted with the se- 
cret springs or machinery of Popery ! I regret 
that circumstances oblige me so often to introduce 
my own name, but it cannot be well avoided, for 
the purpose of explaining certain Popish transac- 
tions in the United States. While I was a Romish 
priest in Philadelphia, and soon after my difference 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 113 

with the archbishop of Baltimore, in relation to the 
introduction of the Bible, a consultation was held 
between the Popish priests in the diocese of Philadel- 
phia, and it was secretly resolved by them, that the 
best mode of checking Hogan'^s heresy^ as they 
were pleased to term my advocating the reading of 
the Bible, was to take possession of the church in 
which I officiated, in the name of the Pope. They 
accordingly wrote to his holiness, humbly praying 
this MAN-GOD to send them out a bishop, and to 
give him, and his successors in office, a lease of 
St. Mary's church, in Philadelphia, and all the ap- 
purtenances thereunto belonging. Accordingly his 
ROYAL HOLINESS the Popc scut them a bishop \vith 
the aforesaid lease. I was immediately ordered 
out of the church ; and having refused to depart, un- 
less the trustees thought proper to remove me, this 
emissary of the Pope, only a few days or weeks in 
this country, had me indited and imprisoned for 
disturbing public worship, or in other words, offi- 
ciating in St. Mary's church, even with the full and 
undivided consent of the trustees. 

But the bishop's legal right was questioned ; the 
case was brought before the supreme court of Penn- 
sylvania. Chief Justice Tighlman presiding. I was 
discharged from bail and custody, and the rights 
of the trustees, under their charter from the state, 
sustained. But the priests and bishops were not 
content with this decision. They put their heads 
once more together, and fancied that they dis- 
covered another mode by which they could rob the 
people of their rights, and defeat the intentions of 
the donors of the property of St. Mary's church ; 
and what was their plan, tfiink you, fellow-citi- 
zens ? 

The bishop called a meeting of all the priests 
10 * 



114 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

and leading Catholics in the diocese. Every lay 
member was ordered to bring with him a hickory 
stick. The meeting was held in the chnrch of St. 
Joseph ; and at the hour of twelve at night, the 
Romish bishop of the diocese of Pennsylvania^ an 
Irishman, not more than a few months in the coun- 
try, attended in his pontificals, told the multitude 
who were there assembled to lay down their sticks 
in one pile, in order that he might bless them for 
their use. This was done as a matter of course. 
The bishop said mass, sprinkled holy water npon 
the sticks, blessed them, and this done, the whole 
party bound themselves by a solemn vow never to 
cease until they elected a legislature in Pennsylvania 
that would annul the charter of St. Mary's church ; 
and, as an ximerican citizen, I blush to state the fact, 
they succeeded. The charter was annulled by an act 
of the legislature, and property, worth over a million 
of dollars, would have passed into the hands of the 
Pope and his agents, were there not a provision in 
the constitution of that state empowering the su- 
preme court to decide upon the constitutionality of 
the acts of the legislature. 

We brought the questionof the constitutionality of 
the act, which annulled the charter, before the court, 
Justice Tighlman still presiding. The court decided 
in the negative, otherwise the trustees and myself 
would have been defeated ; I should have been fined 
and imprisoned, and they ousted out of their trust. 

This, I believe, was the first attempt the Pope 
has made to establish his temporal potver in this 
country ; and it is a source of consolation to me, 
dearer almost than existence itself, to be the first to 
meet this holy bull. If I have not strangled him, 
and trampled him to death, I have, at least, the 
comfort of seeing his horns so blunted, that his 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 115 

bellowings have been, ever since, comparatively 
harmless. But there seems a recuperative power in 
the BEAST. He is again attempting to plant his foot 
upon our soil, and establish his temporal power 
amongst us ; and how is he trying to accomplish 
this, fellow-citizens ? The Papists have united 
themselves together as a body, headed by their 
priests, and resolved to carry, through the ballot 
box, what they cannot otherwise accomplish, at 
least for the present. Popish priests have all be- 
come politicians ; they publicly preach peace, good 
order, and obedience to the '^ powers that be," but 
they tell the people in the confessional, to disre- 
gard those instructions, and stop at nothing w^hich 
may promote the interests of the church. 

They have now, what they call ^^ religious news- 
papers," under the supervision of their bishops, but 
in which not a word of pure religion, or Christian 
charity, is to be found. They are political presses, 
whose object is to overthrow our laws, our govern- 
ment, and introduce, in their stead, anarchy and 
confusion. These people — and here I allude to 
Irish Catholics and their priests in particular 
— have no regard for the obligations of an oath. 
Let the priest only tell them that it is for the good 
of the church, and they will stop at no crime ; no, not 
even at murder ; and they are daily becoming more 
audacious, in consequence of the support which they 
receive from unprincipled politicians, and the mor- 
bid indifference of Protestants. 

I have shown you, in a former page, that the in- 
crease of Catholics, in this country, will soon give 
them a majority of voters : and who, think you, 
will they vote for? A Protestant is it ? Any man 
distinguished for virtue, and for love of republican 
principles? Assuredly not. 



116 



SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 



Will they select such a man as the vh'tuous and 
pious Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey ? Will they 
choose such a man as the upright and honorable 
Archer, of Virginia ? Will they cast their votes 
for such a man as the honest John C. Calhoun, of 
South Carolina; than whom, whatever may be his 
politics, there is not a greater or a better man of 
the age. 

I might name hundreds, equally good and great 
men, who are disqualified, by their virtues, from 
receiving the votes of Popish vassals. None but 
mercenary demagogues, such as the Pope's tool, 
Daniel O'Connell, who generously sacrifices five 
thousand pounds a year to obtain fifty-six thousand, 
the sum which he received last year in order to 
ameliorate the condition of the poor Irish. Give the 
power, and they will elect such a political desperado 
as this restless O'Connell, a Jesuit by education, 
an intriguer by nature, and as great a coward as 
ever drew breath. This is the champion, and his 
followers — the Irish — are the people, who call 
Americans cowards, and their '' pilgrim fathers," 
pirates and sanguinary wretches. These are the 
men, with Daniel O'Connell at their head, number- 
ing nine millions of the ^' bravest men in the icorld^'^^ 
who have been for centuries. a.nd are now, on their 
knees, begging favors from the British government. 
Americans, too, once asked for favors, or rather their 
just rights, from that government, but not having 
obtained them, they drew their swords, threw away 
their scabbards, and, though the whole population 
of the United States did not, at that time, amount 
to two and a half millions, they fought for their 
rights, and they won them. Yet these Popish 
braggarts, but wretched slaves, call you cowards, 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 117 

and your fathers pirates. How long will you suf- 
fer this ? 

We know, from history, that Popery and liberty 
cannot coexist in the same country. A Popish 
government has never advanced human happiness. 
It never promotes any object truly great or philan- 
thropic. How deplorable would it be, did this 
country fall a prey to those who are trying to es- 
tablish it amongst us. The truth is, Popish glory, 
the trappings of its court, have been always the 
silly objects of the Roman church, while the mass 
of her people has ever been left in the recesses of 
want, obscurity, and ignorance. 

Americans, at present, seem sunk in a sort of po- 
litical lethargy ; and this is taken advantage of, by 
foreign priests and Jesuits ; but I would tell those 
disturbers of our peace, not to trust too much to 
this apparent sluggishness ; a calm often precedes a 
storm : the continued insolence, abuses, and threats 
of Papists, may arouse our young lion, and, if I 
mistake not — although, appearances are at present 
against it — his holiness and his minions, who are 
trying to set up a power in this country unknown 
to our constitution, and not enumerated in our bill 
of rights, may have occasion to tremble. 

To effect this, however, without the shedding of 
blood, it is necessary — indispensably necessary — 
that no Papist should hold office, or even vote, un- 
til he ceases to have any connection, or hold any 
alliance with the Pope, who is ^foreign potentate^ 
as well as head of the church. Let them come 
amongst us, if they will, but let it be with healing 
on their wings, and not to disturb our peace and 
tranquillity. Let them prove themselves the friends 
of liberty, religion, and mankind, and Americans 
will receive them with open arms, admit them to a 



118 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

full participation in all their own privileges, and ex- 
tend to them the hand of friendship ; but never let 
this be done, until they forswear expressly and 
without mental reservation^ all allegiance, of what- 
ever kind, and under whatever name, to the Pope 
of Rome, who is ^ foreign potentate^ and acknowl- 
edged as such by the powers of Europe. When a 
Papist refuses to do this, trust him not. I repeat it, 
trust him not, Americans. He is a spy amongst 
you, a traitor to your country, and the sworn ene- 
my of your religion and your liberties. 

This, however, they do not. They come 
amongst you with different motives and far different 
characters. Though I know them well, it would 
be impossible for me to express to you the designs 
which mark their entrance into this country. 
They cross the Atlantic, under instructions from 
their priests, and bring nothing with them but 
their bigotry, intolerance, and ignorance. Their 
tastes, their passions, and their native hatred of 
Protestants are wafted over to us, and are al- 
ready corrupting the morals of our people. In 
their native country they feel, or pretend to feel, 
oppressed by British laws and British government. 
They are taught by their priests to despise their 
government, at home ; that its laws are all penal, 
and that there is no crime in evading them. 

There is not an Irish Catholic, who leaves that 
country, but feels it his duty to resist the laws 
of Protestant England, and evade, by perjury or 
otherwise, their execution. ^' In no country in the 
world," says a modern writer, ^' are the rights of 
property so recklessly violated : amongst no people 
on the face of the earth are the obligations of an 
oath, or the discharge of the moral duties, so 
utterly disregarded. Any man, the greatest cul- 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 119 

prit, can find persons to prove an alibi ; the most 
atrocious assassin has but to seek protection, 
to obtain it. And why is this so ? Because the 
reUgious instruction of the people has been total- 
ly neglected ; because their priests have become 
politicians ; because their bishops, pitchforked 
from the potatoe-basket to the palace, have become 
drunk with the incense offered to their vanity ; and 
the patronage granted in return for their unprinci- 
pled support, instead of checking the misconduct 
of the subordinates, stimulate them to still further 
violence, and stop at nothing which can forward 
their objects. Because the opinions of the people 
are formed on the statements and advice of mendi- 
cant agitators, who have but one object in view — 
their own aggrandizement. Because a rabid and 
revolutionary press, concealing its ultimate designs 
under the motive of affording protection to the 
weak, seeks to overthrow all law and order, 
pandering to the worst passions of an ignorant and 
ferocious populace." 

Irish priests and Irish bishops complain of pov- 
erty and grievances at home. They complain 
that men of property leave their homes and spend 
their incomes abroad ; but as this writer, to whom 
I have alluded expresses it, '' What encouragement 
do they give to such as return from their resi- 
dences abroad ? ^\ Allow me, fellow-citizens, to 
give you an instance of the treatment which 
Protestants of fortune receive from Irish Roman 
priests, when they do return to reside upon their 
estates in Ireland. 1 quote from the same au- 
thor : — 

'' The Marquis of Waterford, a sportsman, 
boundless in his charities, frank and cordial in his 
maimers, not obnoxious on account of his politics, 
and admitted on all hands to be one of the best 



120 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

landlords in Ireland, comes to reside, and spend his 
eighty thousand sterhng per annum, in the coun- 
try. He gets up a splendid establishment in the 
county of Tipperary ; and how is he treated ? 
His hounds and horses were twice poisoned. 
There are scarcely any Protestants in the county 
of Tipperary. His offices were fired, and his ser- 
vants, with difficulty, saved their lives. Com- 
pelled to abandon Tipperary — that sink of Popish 
iniquity, every nook and corner of which I am 
acquainted with — this generous and fine-hearted 
young nobleman retires to his family mansion, in 
Waterford ; and how is he received there ? I will 
not tell you ; let his parish priest tell the story. 
*^Men of Portlan," says this holy Romish priest^ 
addressing the tenants and neighbors of the Mar- 
quis of Waterford, '^ you were the leading men 
who put down Beresford, in '26 (the marquis's 
father) ; I call on you now, having put down one 
set of tyrants, to put down another set of tyrants, 
the marquis himself." 

Many of the Romish priests, which we have in 
this country, are from that very county of Tippe- 
rary, and thousands of the poor Irish amongst us 
have had their education, such as it is, from such 
worthy apostolic successors as the parish priest of 
the Marquis of Waterford. 

Such are the people to whom you are yield- 
ing the destinies of this happy republic, by allow- 
ing them to vote at your elections, or to hold any 
office of honor or trust, while they have any con- 
nection with the head of their church, the Pope of 
Rome. Let the reader pass on from Popish Tippe- 
rary to Protestant Ulster, and he will see that the 
crimes of the Irish, and the miseries which many 
of them suffer, are to be attributed almost solely to 
their religion and their priests. 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 121 

Mr. Kohl, a fair and very impartial writer, at 
least, upon Ireland, and who is often quoted by 
the great agitator, O'Connell, says, — in passing 
from that part of the country, where the majority 
of the inhabitants profess the Roman Catholic re- 
ligion to that in which the great bulk of the popu- 
lation are Protestants or Presbyterians, — " On the 
other side of these miserable hills, whose inhabi- 
tants are years before they can afford to get the 
holes mended in their potatoe kettles, (the most im- 
portant article of furniture in an Irish cabin,) the 
territory of Leinster and that of Munster begins. 
The coach rattled over the boundary line, and all at 
once we seemed to have entered a new world. I 
am not in the slightest degree exaggerating when 
I say, that everything was as suddenly changed as 
if by an enchanter's wand. The dirty cabins by 
the road side were succeeded by neat, pretty cot- 
tages ; well cultivated fields and shady trees met 
the eye on every side. At first I could scarcely 
believe my own eyes, and thought the change must 
be merely local, caused by particular management 
of that particular state, but the improvement lasted, 
and continued to show me that I was among a to- 
tally different people, the Scottish settlers, and the 
industrious Presbyterians." 

We see, in this country, the same difference of 
character and habits, between the Irish Protestants 
and the Irish Ccitholics. The Irish Protestant, 
wherever you find him, laboring on his loom in 
the north of Ireland, working in a fao-tory in New 
England, keeping a shop in New York, or culti- 
vating a plantation in Carolina, values his home 
and integrity, as pearls of great price. He is gen- 
erally temperate, frugal, and industrious. We sel- 
dom, or never, hear him accused of disturbing the 
peace, or fraudulently voting at elections; on the 
11 



122 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

whole, he arrives amongst lis a worthy man, and, 
in time, becomes a useful citizen ; and to what is 
this owing? It is owing to his education. He 
has been taught the Bible in his youth ; from this 
he learned to love his God, above all things, and his 
neighbor as himself. 

But how is it with the Roman Catholic, who 
comes amongst you ? Scarce does he land on 
your shores, when he becomes more turbulent, 
more noisy, and more presumptuous, than when he 
left his native bogs. As soon as he confesses to 
his priest, he hurrahs for democracy, by which 
he means anarchy, confusion, and the downfall of , 
heretics. He must vote ; if he cannot do so fairly, 
his priest tells him how to evade the obligations of 
an oath. He will swear to support a constitution, 
which he never read, and never was read to him ; 
he goes again to the confessional, and leaves that 
sacred tribunal with an oath upon his lips, that 
^^ Americans shall not rule him.'' He soon hears 
the words, '- Pilgrim Fathers ; '' he goes to his priest, 
and asks what these words mean ; he is told that 
they were vile wretches, pirates^ who came to this 
country many years ago, and whose sons were all 
cotoards, and thus we see that, as far as it is in their 
powder, they are trying to reduce this country, and 
its native inhabitants, to a level with that in which 
their vile religion — Popery — has placed them- 
selves. If we could cast our eyes over the history 
of the world, we should be struck with horror at 
the fatal consequences of Popery. 

Wherever its followers have had an ascendency, 
or wherever they have it now, they appear to be 
conspirators against the happiness of the human 
race. What were the means by which Popish 
kings, emperors, and princes, conducted their gov- 
ernments — with the advice and consent of the 



AS IT V\^AS AND AS IT IS. 123 

Pope of Rome^ the vicegerent of heaven ? Craft, 
extortion, fire, and sword. What are the means by 
which those governments, which at this day are 
under the Pope and his priests, are conducted? 

The Pope apes the very thunders of heaven, 
and such are the "imitative powers" of his priests 
and bishops, that they are equally as destructive as 
the original. I have alluded to the contrast be- 
tween the Catholic and Protestant people of Ire- 
land. The one prosperous and happy ; the other 
poor, miserable, and degraded. Heaven's vice- 
gerent, as the bishops call the Pope, and the Pa- 
pists call the bishops, seldom bestow a thought 
upon their subjects, except to gull and inveigle 
them for the aggrandizement of their church ; and 
we now see Ireland, one of the fairest countries 
upon earth, a country over which God has scattered 
plenty, and to which nature is peculiarly bounti- 
ful, reduced to want by insolent, haughty bishops, 
and vile, profligate priests. 

That beautiful land which nature taught to smile 
with abundance, they have watered with tears, and 
with blood, all the result of Popery ; and this has 
been its eff*ect every where. It operates like the 
east wind, causing blasting, barrenness, and desola- 
tion, wherever it goes, and nothing, but the hercu- 
lean arm of this young and vigorous republic can 
check its progress among ourselves. 

But I may be told that nothing is to be dreaded 
in this country from Papists ; that they have neither 
numbers, nor means, to accomplish their designs 
upon our institutions. Let us see whether this is 
so. I have stated, in a former page, the number of 
bishops, priests, seminaries, and Papists, in this 
country. I have also shown you, to a demonstra- 
tion, that if the number of emigrant Papists should 
continue to increase for the next thu'ty years, as 



124 



SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 



the)' have for the last eight, they will be a majority 
of the population of the United States, and the 
Pope our supreme temporal ruler. 

Permit me, now, to give you some idea of what 
their means are, at least such portion of them as 
they derive from Europe, and you can judge for 
yourselves what they are in the United States. I 
will give you the amount sent from Europe, during 
the years 1841, 1842, and 1843. 1 quote from 
their own books and receipts. 



To Mr. Lefevre, coadjutor and ad- 
ministrator, at Detroit, . . 

Mr. Purcell, Bishop of Cincin- 
nati, 

Mr. Fenwick, Bishop of Boston, 

Mr. Kenrick, coadjutor and 
adjninistrator, Philadelphia, 

Mr. Hughes, coadjutor and 
administrator, of New York, 

Mr. Miles, Bishop of Nashville, 

Mr. Flaget, Bishop of Bards- 
town, 

Mr. Hailandiere, Bishop of Vin- 

cennes, 

For the Congregation of the Eu- 
dists, in the Diocese of Vin- 
cennes, 

Mr. Rosati, Bishop of St. Louis, 

Mr. Chanels, Bishop of Natchez, 

Mr. Blanc, Bishop of New Or- 
leans, 

Mr. Portier, Bishop of Mobile, 

Mr. England, Bishop of Charles- 
ton, 

Mr. Whelan, Bishop of Rich- 
mond, 

The Missions of the Priests of 
Mercy in the United States, 

The Missions of the Lazarists 
in the United States, . . . 

The Missions of the Jesuits in 
the state of Missouri, . 

The Missions of the Jesuits in 
the state of Kentucky, . . 



1841. 


1842. 


1843. 


$1,97160 


$1,010 95 


$7,44764 


7,778 52 
3,700 28 


5,554 20 
3,063 32 


9,448 80 
2,866 40 


3,660 43 


2,968 56 


1,145 76 


8,236 08 
4,575 60 


10,885 72 
4,452 84 


9,020 22 
4,006 16 


8,676 06 






8,291 88 


12,245 87 


10,603 36 


3,720 00 

10,519 88 

4,775 40 


3,463 32 

10,21140 

3,958 08 


1,860 00 

10,884 72 

2,29172 


2,745 35 
1,835 82 


1,979 04 
3,958 08 


4,583 04 
6,259 60 


7,440 00 


4,452 84 


2,864 40 


4,575 60 


4,947 60 


6,235 68 


4,575 60 


3,720 00 


8,55600 


6,510 00 






7,513 60 


5,580 00 


5,952 00 


2,790 00 


3,348 00 


3,720 00 


103,891 75 


85,799 82 


97,745 50 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 125 

With such an amount of funds annually, from 
abroad, in the hands of a body of men, who un- 
derstand how to manage and appropriate them, 
perhaps better than any other association in the 
world, with the majority of the population of these 
United States, and having but one single object in 
view, namely, the supremacy of their Pope and 
their church; what have Americans not to fear? 
They will avail themselves of a corrupt state of 
representation ; they will procure a majority in 
your national legislature, and then, I say, woe be 
to your liberties. 

Your school-houses, which now ring, at stated 
hours, with the praises and glories of God on high, 
wherein children are given to drink of the waters 
of life, will be converted into monk-houses, and 
lying-in-hospitals ; prayers to God will no longer 
be heard in them ; vagabond saints and wooden 
images will be the only objects of adoration ; 
ignorance and vice will take the place of intelli- 
gence and virtue ; idleness will take the place of 
industry ; at]d the free American who, heretofore, 
was taught to walk erect before God and man, will 
shrivel and dwindle into a thing fit only to crouch 
before a tyrant Pope, and become a hewer of wood 
and drawer of water, for lazy and gluttonous priests, 
who, for centuries, have been trying to extinguish 
the light of reason and science, and who, even at 
the present moment, aye, at our very doors, are 
trying to abolish some of the finest productions of 
genius. 

Witness the prohibition, recently, in France, of 
the publication of the Wandering Jew. Witness 
the prohibition of its circulation in Cuba; and why 
is it prohibited? Because it exposes some of the 
trickery of Jesuitism — because it lays bare some 
11 ^ 



126 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, ^ 

of the intrigues of that hellish association — and 
because holy mother church knows full well, that 
no honest or honorable man could see her in her 
native deformity, without a shudder of disgust — 
because she knows that herself and her priests are 
but whited sepulchres, filled not with dead men's 
bones, but with the living fires of despotism, ava- 
rice, lust, and treachery — because she knows that 
Eugene Sue, who has written the Wandering Jew, 
is a Roman Catholic, well acquainted with the 
practices of Jesuits, sanctioned by the church. A 
continuation of the Wandering Jew, and its circu- 
lation, might show the world, even if there were no 
better authority, that monasteries and nunneries, 
under the control of Jesuits, were but vast Sodoms 
and prisons, full of crime and pollution. 

Eugene Sue could, and I believe would, show 
the world, if his health had not failed him, that 
Roman Catholic priests and bishops, though for- 
bidden, under pain of excommuiiication^ to marry, 
were allowed to keep concubines. I refer the 
reader to the memoirs of the Romish bishop, Scipio 
de Ricci, for the truth of this assertion. I also re- 
fer you to another valuable work, Binnii Concillia, 
first volume, page 737. You will find the same 
in a work called Corpus Juris Canonicij page 47, to 
be had in the Philadelphia Library. You will find 
the same permission sanctioned by the council of 
Toledo, at which Pope Leo presided. The only 
restriction put upon the licentiousness of priests, by 
the council of Toledo, was to forbid them from 
*' keeping more than one concubine at a time, at 
least i7i public^ 

Cardinal Campeggio expressly says, '^ that a priest 
who marries commits a more grievous sin than if 
he kept many concubines." St. Bernard, who 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS, 127 

died about the beginning of the twelfth century, 
and who must have been a very charitable man, as 
all Catholics now pray to him, tells the world that 
*^ bishops and priests commit acts in secret, which 
it would be scandalous to express." 

Pope John XIL, was convicted by a general 
council, of /ormca^^'o/i, murder^ adultery, B,nd in- 
cest, but these were not sufficient to depose him. 
He still believed in holy mother, the church, 
and his own infallibility. There is not an indi- 
vidual who reads these statements, and is at all ac- 
quainted with history, who does not know that 
Pope Paul III., who convened the council of 
Trent, had made large sums of money from li- 
censes given to houses of ill fame in that city. 

The holy church to this day, in the city of Mex- 
ico, to my own knowledge, receives large sums 
from the same sources, and these are supported 
principally by monks, friars and priests. No won- 
der, then, that the publication of the Wandering 
Jew should be prevented in Catholic cotmtries. 
The writer, Mr. Sue, is a man of the world, he has 
read the book of nature with as much attention as 
he has those in his library. He is a well-read his- 
torian, and possesses an admirable faculty of com- 
municating his ideas. He clothes them with a sim- 
plicity and beauty, almost peculiar to himself. The 
man that could depict Rodin, the sanctimonious 
Jesuit, in his true character, as Mr. Sue has done, 
must necessarily be silenced in a Catholic country. 
It must not be known that Jesuits may come 
among us in the garb of merchants, or in any other 
disguise which they may please to assume ; no in- 
timation must be given, that the poisoned cup, the 
assassin's dagger, tlie desperate sea-captain, or the 
valiant soldier, could be concealed under a Jesuit's 



128 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

cowl, or that he may throw off that cowl, at his 
pleasure, and exchange it for a pea-jacket, a dancing 
pump, the violin, the fencing foil, or even the cos- 
tume of a barber, or tamer of wild beasts. 

It will not answer the purposes of the holy 
CHURCH, that a man should live and write, who is 
capable of raising the curtain which hides its de- 
signs, and conceals the instruments, which she has 
ever used, and is now using, for the destruction of 
liberty. Such a man is the author of the Wan- 
dering Jew. 

No man can look at the picture which he has 
drawn of Ignatius Morok, without recognizing, 
in its every feature, those of a Jesuit and a villain. 
He travelled about, in the assumed character of a 
^^ tamer of wild beasts," but in reality, he was a 
Jesuit missionary, and sent by that order, with full 
power to accomplish, by miy means within his 
power, one of the most infamous acts of fraud that 
ever was committed by man. 

He was accompanied, (as the reader of Eugene 
Sue will find,) by a lay Jesuit, named Karl, and I 
cannot give my readers a better idea of Jesuitism, 
as it ever has been, and is now, than by requesting 
of them to observe the course adopted by those two 
villains in accomplishing the object of their errand. 
Look at their treatment of the honest and faithful 
Dagobert. Look at the cruelties which they in- 
flicted on the two iiniocent orphans, committed to 
his charge. See the schemes, by which they have 
made even the wife of Dagobert subservient to 
their designs. See the arts by which Jesuit priests 
crept into families, under various disguises, sowing 
amongst them discord, hatred, and domestic strife. 
They have put the father against the son, and the 
son against the father ; husband against wife, and 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 129 

wife against husband ; brother against sister, and 
sister against brother. See how they have con- 
trived to filch from the poor and almost starving, 
the last sou they possessed, to have masses said for 
the repose of the souls of those who were actually 
living, to the knowledge of the priest, though rep- 
resented by him at the confessional, to have been 
long since dead ! 

* See how one of those vagabond Jesuits, in the as- 
sumed character of a physician, aided by one of the 
sisters of that order. Madam de St. Dizier, imposed 
upon the heiress. Mademoiselle de Cardoville. He 
offered his services to accompany her to visit a friend 
of hers, but had a private understanding with a lay 
Jesuit^ in the disguise of a hack-driver, to take 
them to a lunatic asylum, where he deposited the 
heiress. I will not quote from the ^^ Wandering 
Jew," it would be depriving my readers of much 
pleasure ; but I would recommend the perusal of it, 
in order to become acquainted with some of the 
prominent features of Jesuitism. The work ap- 
pears as a romance, but it contains many sad and 
serious facts. It is a compendium of Jesuitism, 
and should be looked upon as a warning to the 
citizens of this new world. Americans will scarcely 
beheve that we have any such Jesuits in this coun- 
try, as are described in the Wandering Jew. I tell 
them they are mistaken ; we have them in every 
state in the Union, but especially in New York, 
Maryland, District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, and 
Massachusetts. I speak from my own knowledge. 

" Bred in the harem, all its ways 1 know." 

A word to those who have daughters, and for- 
tunes to give them ; arid also to those young ladies, 
who have fortunes in their own right. 



130 



SYNOPSIS OF popi:ry, 



Jesuits will leave nothing undone, to form ac- 
quaintance with the children of such as are supposed 
to be wealthy. The Catholic bishops of the Uni- 
ted States, in their annual and semiannual de- 
spatches to Rome, boast that they are peculiarly 
fortunate in gaining converts from such families, 
and I trust a word of caution from me will not 
prove useless. 

The mode which Jesuits have adopted, in aj^ 
proaohing such families, are various : but the most 
general, and hitherto the most successful is, to in- 
duce their children to go to their colleges and 
schools. In these, every male and female teacher is 
to bend the minds of their scholars towards Popery, 
and to report progress twice a week to their supe- 
riors. But when parents do not send their children 
to Jesuit schools, the next expedient is to get 
Roman Catholic servants into the family, who are 
instructed in the confessional by the priests how 
to proceed, especially with their young daughters, 
in prepossessing their minds in favor of the Romish 
church, and the great beatitudes of a single life. 

I have known cases myself, where it was not 
deemed prudent to go so far as to say one word 
in favor of the Catholic church, or of a single 
life. The young ladies may be engaged, and 
their young hearts pledged. A different course 
must now be pursued, and the Popish domestic has 
her instructions accordingly. vShe must find out to 
whom the lady is, or is likely to be, engaged ; and it 
must be broken off, not abruptly — that is not the 
way Jesuits do things — it is to be done gradually. 
Their young minds must be poisoned, but the poi- 
son must be given in small quantities, until finally 
it produces the desired effect ; and then the happi- 
ness and the glories of a nun^s life are to be the 



AS IT Was and as it is. 131 

theme of conversation, more or less, according to 
the mstriictions received in the confessional. 

It is not long since I met with a Protestant 
friend of mine, and in the course of conversation, 
some allusion was made to the subject of nunneries. 
He observed that their schools were excellent ; that 
his daughter had just finished her education there, 
a!id had returned home in perfect ecstacy with her 
school, with the lady abbess who presided over it, 
and with all the nuns by whom she had been edu- 
cated. *'It is said,'' observed this gentleman to 
me, ^' that nuns try to tamper with the religious 
opinions of their pupils, and endeavor to make ' nuns 
of them,' but there is no truth in this; they never 
interfered with my daughter's religious opinions, 
nor did they insinuate to her the most remote idea 
of taking the veil^ or becoming a nun?'' 

1 made no reply — courtesy forbade it. I might 
easily have answered my friend, but I feared the 
answer, which truth compelled me to give, would 
hurt his feelings. I might have said to him, Sir, 
your daughter had not a dollar in her own right, 
neither had you one to give her, and you must 
know that Jesuits seldom covet penniless applicants 
for the black or lohite veil. You should have also 
known that, although your daughter may have 
seemed very beautiful in your eyes, she was proba- 
bly devoid of those external charms which would 
attract the libidinous eye of a Jesuit. When ladies 
are taken into a convent by Jesuits, they must be 
possessed of something' more than ordinary attrac- 
tions. These reverend Jesuits, having the liberty 
of choosing, are rather fastidious. Yerbwm sat. 

Truly, and from my heart, 1 pity the female, who 
risks herself in the school of Jesuit nuns. She 
hazards all that is dear to her. Though she may 



132 SYNOPSIS OF POPKllY, 

leave it, single-minded and innocent as she entered, 

— as I believe they all do who do not become nuns, 

— still the peril of going there at all is eminently 
hazardous and dangerous. But woe be to those 
who become nuns. I have been chaplain to one 
of those nunneries ; and I assure my readers, on the 
honor of a man, who is entirely disinterested, and 
whose circumstances place him in an independent 
position, who wants neither favors nor patronage 
from any individual, that the very air w,e breathe, 
or the very grouud upon which we walk, is not 
made more obedient or more subservient to our use, 
than a nun, who takes the black veil^ is to the use 
of Popish priests and Jesuits. 

The internal economy and abominations of a 
convent are horrible in the extreme. I dare not 
mention them, otherwise my book would, and 
ought to be, thrown out of every respectable house 
in the city. 1 will only call my reader's attention 
to the fact, that, in all Catholic countries, nunneries 
hdive foundling hospitals attached to them. This 
any man can see who goes to France, Spain, Portu- 
gal, or Mexico. 

It will be seen, even in this country, that they 
have their private burying places and secret vaults. 
It is not more than five or six years, since a num- 
ber of Jesuits, in Baltimore, petitioned the legisla- 
ture of Maryland for leave to run a subterraneous 
passage from one of their chapels to a nunnery, dis- 
tant only about five hundred yards. The object of 
the petitioners was too plain. It was the most 
daring outrage ever offered any deliberative body 
of men ; but, much to the credit of the legislature 
of Maryland, they rejected the petition with undis- 
guised marks of indignant scorn. 

These statements will be rather unpalatable to 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 133 

Jesuits, but my only regret is, that decency forbids 
a full development of the crimes committed, with 
perfect impunity, in Popish convents. In New 
York, every effort seems to be making, by the pres- 
ent legislature of that state, to suppress immorality. 
A bill is now before that body, making adultery 
a penitentiary offence ; yet Popish priests are build- 
ing nunneries there, and if Roman Catholic ladies 
think it proper to hold a fair to collect money for the 
building of those nunneries, these very New Yorkers 
will contribute their money freely; and thus, this 
ill-placed liberality, which Americans bestow, not 
only there but elsewhere, becomes the cause of 
evils which they seem desirous to crush. 

How is it with us in Massachusetts? Look at 
our statute book, and if we are to judge from that, 
of the utter detestation with which our people look 
upon immorality of ev'ery kind, we deserve to be 
considered paragons of propriety. Should there be 
amongst us a house, even of equivocal fame^ our 
guardians of the night and civil officers are allowed 
to demand entrance into it at any hour, and if re- 
fused, they may use force. Yet we have convents 
amongst us, nunneries and nuns too. Poor help- 
less females are confined in them, but not an officer 
in the state will presume to enter. If admission is 
asked, it may or may not be given by the mother 
abbess or one of the reverend bullies of the insti- 
tution ; but no force must be used. The poor 
imprisoned victims, whether content or not with 
her station, must bear it without a groan or a 
murmur. 

This should not be in any civilized country ; and 
I will venture the assertion, that it could not con- 
tinue one hour, at least among the moral and chari- 
table people of Boston, were they not utterly uri- 
12 



134 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

acquainted with the iniquities of the Romish 
church. 

This fully explains the opposition to the circula- 
tion of the Wandering Jew by the infallible church. 

I have given the reader but a faint view of the 
persecutions of Popery, down to the close of the 
fifteenth century, and revolting as they are, there 
is no record to be found from which we can even 
infer, that the church has ever altered her doctrine 
or practice, on the subject of exterminating here- 
tics, namely, all who are not Roman Catholics. If 
there were any such record, it could not have 
escaped my notice. Some Pope or some council 
would, long since, have given it to the world. 

I was, as has been stated, born a Roman Catholic, 
and educated a priest in that church. I solemnly 
declare to yon, fellow-citizens of my adopted coun- 
try, that nothing has been more forcibly impressed 
upon my mind, by my teachers, when a boy — 
by the priest to whom I confessed when young — 
by the professors under whom I read Popish theol- 
ogy — or by the bishop who ordained me, and with 
whom I lived subsequently as chaplain — than the 
obligation I was under of extirpating heresy, by 
argument, if possible ; and, if not, by any other 
means, even to the shedding of blood. And there 
is not now, in this country, an Irish priest nor an 
Irish Roman Catholic, and true son of the church, 
who does not believe that, if he could collect all 
the heretics in the United States, and form them 
into one pile, he would be serving God in applying 
a torch to it. And, incredible as it may appear to 
you, their church teaches them that, in doing so, 
they would be serving you. 

The doctrine is taught now, as it was in past 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 135 

ages, by their priests, that the body must be de- 
stroyed^ for the good of the soul. ^' It is a benefit," 
say the pious Popish priests, ^' to heretics to be 
killed ; the fewer ivill be his sins^ and the shorter 
will be his hell! '' You naturally shudder at this 
doctrine, but it is not many years since Leo XII., 
in one of his bulls of jubilee^ or indulgence to the 
faithful, announces publicly, and without shame, 
or sorrow, proclaims to Catholics, his beloved sub- 
jects, that in order to obtain the indulgence granted 
by that bull of jubilee, there are two conditions, 
without which, they can derive no benefit from it, 
namely, the exaltation of the holy mother church, 
and the extirpation of heresy. This ^' blessed 
bulV^ was published in 1825, and directed to the 
archbishop of Baltimore, and all other Popish bish- 
ops in the United States, to be made such use of 
as their lordships may think proper ! 

Will you believe it, Americans, that this doctrine 
is taught, this very day, in the college of Maynooth, 
Ireland. You will find it in De LaHogue's Tract. 
Theolog. ch. viii. p. 404, of the Dublin edition. 
No priest or bishop will question the authority of 
Dr. De La Hogue. He has been professor in that col- 
lege for nearly half a century. I must, however, 
add here, for the information of all who are unac- 
quainted with the doctrine of the pious frauds prac- 
tised by Romish priests, that their respective bishops, 
or in his absence, the vjcar-general, can give any of 
them a dispensation to deny any truth or to tell 
any falsehood for the '^ exaltation of holy mother 
church." I have received such dispensations my- 
self, but, not having the fear of the Pope before my 
eyes, I took the liberty of disregarding them. 

Many will ask me, Why have you not made 
t: ese things known before now? There were 
many reasons why I suppressed them. 



136 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

I knew my motives, however disinterested, might 
then be questioned ; secondly, the pubUcmind was 
not prepared for the developments which I have 
made. Thirdly, my love of peace and quietness 
induced me to withdraw to a part of the country, 
distant from the scene of my controversy, hoping 
that the miscreant priests and bishops of the Rom- 
ish church would permit me to pursue my new 
profession of the law, without interruption. But 
in this, as I ought to have known, I was disap- 
pointed. Although I have not, since I left Phila- 
delphia, until very recently, even replied to the cal- 
umnies which vagabond Irish priests who infest 
this country, and the still greater vagabond bishops 
who govern them, together with the tools which 
they keep in their employment, have heaped 
upon me ; still they have, in the true spirit of their 
vocation^ never ceased to pursue me with their 
vengeance. 

No sooner had I abjured the Pope, disregarded his 
bulls^ and thereby become a heretic, than they had me 
burnt in efRgy ! But much more gratified would 
they be, had they my person in the place of the 
effigy. I still remained unmoved. Soon after this, 
Bishop England, of Charleston, South Carolina, es- 
tablished a press, called the *^ Catholic Miscellany," 
whose columns teemed, for months, — almost for 
years, — with the grossest and vilest abuse against 
me ; yet while this restless demagogue, who is now 
in his grave, was spewing forth his filthy abuse, I 
was prospering in my profession, and partially re- 
covering my health, which I thought was radically 
destroyed by the persecutions I suffered in Phila- 
delphia ; and thus, while the Pope in Rome, and the 
Romish bishops and priests of this country, were 
cursing me, Heaven was blessing my efforts and 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 137 

gaining me the confidence of the virtuous and good, 
whom I had the pleasure of meeting in my inter- 
course with the world. 

Strange indeed are the practices of Papists! 
Previous to my heresy in Philadelphia, there was 
not in that city a more popular man — not another 
more respected; I may almost say, that there was no 
man, of any pursuit or calling, whose friendship 
was more courted. Yet the moment I committed 
the unpardonable sin of differing with the Pope of 
Rome, every one of his faithful children, not only 
tbere but throughout the world, was bound by his 
oath of allegiance to persecute me in every possible 
way. 

Never forget, Americans, that the same oath of 
allegiance, which binds them to persecute me, is 
also binding on them to persecute and destroy you. 
Some of you will say, this cannot be. A church, 
numbering among her priests such men as Massillon, 
Fenelon, Chevereux, and Taylor of Boston, can- 
not entertain, much less command, a spirit of perse- 
cution. True, as far as we can judge, these were 
godly men. They would be an honor to any reli- 
gion. But in the Popish church, they were like 
stars that strayed from their homes, and losing 
their way, fell, by accident, upon the dark firma- 
ment of sin and Popery ; but even there, their na- 
tive light could not be obscured ; on the contrary, 
the darker the clouds around them, the more beau- 
tiful and brilHant did their light appear. Poor 
Taylor, — '^ Peace be to thy memory, — we have 
been friends together.'^ Methinks I can, even now, 
feel the warm pressure of thy hand, see the chari- 
ties of thy soul beaming in thy speaking eye and 
gentle countenance, yet thou too had been consid- 
ered almost a heretic in the city of New York, and 
12* 



138 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY5 

would have been denounced as such by the rude 
and vulgar bishop of that diocese, had not the ami- 
able Chevereux interfered. 

Often have I regretted that this Mr, Taylor, who 
was my classmate, and companion of my youth, 
had not, in addition to his private virtues, more 
fortitude and decision of character. He was the 
Erasmus of his day, in the United States. He was 
born and educated a gentleman; so was the amia- 
ble but timid Erasmus. He was educated a Ro- 
man Catholic ; so was Erasmus. He was a chaste 
and elegant classical scholar ; so was Erasmus. 
Taylor, knowing full well the corruptions of the 
Romish church, went from New York to Rome, 
about the year 1822, in order to induce the Pope 
to modify such of its doctrines as were objection- 
able in this country. But he wanted courage, and 
hastily retreated back, lest he should be consigned 
to the inquisition. Erasmus, too, wanted courage, 
a quality as necessary for a reformer as it is to a 
general in storming a city and hence it is ; that those 
two amiable men, similar in character and dispo- 
sition, though living in ages widely apart, have 
lived ostensibly members of a church, whose doc- 
trines they loathed from the very bottom of their 
souls. 

This might have been the temper, the character, 
and the cause, why such men as Massillon and 
Fenelon have lived and died Roman Catholics. 
They felt, probably, as Erasmus did, when he said, 
*^It is dangerous to speak, and dangerous to be si- 
lent." ^^ I fear," said he, in another place, *^ that 
if a tumult arose, I should be like Peter in his 
fall." It is not at all strange, that such men as 
we have spoken of, should have contented them- 
selves with having inculcated virtue, and de- 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 139 

nounced vice. There were such men in all ages, 
and, as a modern writer expresses it, ^' in all great re- 
ligious movements there are undecided characters." 
But let it be borne in mind, that even great and 
good as they seemed to be, and eloquent and 
pious as they appeared, still they are only excep- 
tions in the great body of the advocates of Popery. 

No wonder Americans look back to those lights 
in the dark and bloody wilderness of Popery. It 
is refreshing to see them. They are green spots in 
the deserts made barren and desolate, by Popish 
iniquities ; and long may their memories shine in 
unclouded lustre. 

It is pleasant to the historian, who is wearied 
and disgusted with contemplating the past and 
present horrors of Popery, to turn for a moment 
from the frightful spectacle, and rest in devout con- 
templation on the lives of those comparatively ex- 
•cellent men. Ho^ mistaken are those would-be 
philanthropists, who, at the present time, teach 
Americans to infer, that, because those were good 
and holy men, "possessing a pious and forgiving 
spirit, it follows that the Papist church, her bish- 
ops and priests, entertain a similar spirit. This is 
equivalent to telling them that all history, past and 
present, is false, a mere romance, the dream of 
madmen. It is equivalent to telling them that the 
very history and records of the lives of Fenelon, 
and Massillon, &c., were entitled to no credit. 
Who can read, and not see that Rome has spilt 
oceans of blood to enforce her cruel creed ! Who 
can read, and not see that she has squandered 
treasures enough to relieve the poor of civilized 
Europe, in establishing and keeping up a despotism 
inimical to man and hateful to God ! 

The Papists, even in this country, do not deny 



140 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

that they intend to eradicate heresy, and to use 
every means which their church considers legitimate 
to effect that purpose. This the priests preach 
from their pulpits; this they tell you to your beards. 
They admit their determination to bring these 
United States, if possible, under the spiritual con- 
trol of the court of Rome. They use the word 
spiritual, in utter contempt of your understanding, 
to deceive you, and while using it, they laugh at 
your credulity. Popish spiritual control, spiritual 
allegiance ! It is almost incredible that any body 
of men should have the impudence to come for- 
ward, in the nineteenth century, and talk of spir- 
itual allegiance to his royal holiness the King of 
Rome. 

They admit their determination to possess this 
country, and have the modesty to ask you to give 
them lands and churches, and means to accom- 
plish their object, and effectuate your destruction. 
Their next step will be to quarter upon you an ar- 
my of friars, Jesuits, or monks, who will carry at 
the point of the bayonet what is left undone by 
duplicity, treachery, and intrigue. This has been 
the fate of every country where Popery has found 
a resting place, and America is the only nation 
which, for the last three centuries, has given 
them such a footing. They tried what they could 
do in China. They succeeded in establishing sev- 
eral bishoprics, Jesuit convents, nunneries, monk- 
houses and churches, among the peaceable and quiet 
Chinese ; but happening to differ among themselves 
on the subject of their respective temporal rights, 
they, as in duty bound, referred their differences to 
the Pope. This movement came to the ears of the 
emperor of China, whom they had so long and 
so successfully deceived by the cant words, spirit- 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 141 

ual allegiance to the Pope, The parties were 
summoned before his commissioner to ascertain 
what was meant by spiritual allegiance. They 
tried to explain it, but all their ingenuity, all their 
subtity, could not satisfy the commissioner that 
spiritual allegiance meant anything else than what 
it fairly expressed, and a.s soon as he found that it 
meant, in the eyes of the Pope and the Romish 
church, things real and tangible, such as real estate, 
the conveying it from the rightful owner under 
the laws of the land, to another under the laws 
of the Pope, who lived in Rome, he satisfied him- 
self, that the spiritual supremacy of the Pope 
meant, among other things, the power to govern 
the kingdoms of the earth ; to give away, and take 
them away, to whom and from whom, his royal 
holiness pleased. The emperor instantly issued an 
order, directing that every Roman Catholic bishop, 
priest, friar, Jesuit, monk, and nun, within his em- 
pire, should quit, within a given time, on pain of 
losing their heads. Many of them disobeyed the 
order and were executed, and their churches lev- 
elled to the ground. 

The Chinese had no objection to Papists wor- 
shipping God, according to the dictates of their own 
conscience ; but as soon as it was discovered that 
they owed spiritual allegiance to a foreign power, 
they deemed it prudent to remove them from the 
country. But the Chinese are barbarians^ and it 
seems reserved for this new world of ours, to in- 
terpret properly the meaning of spiritual allegiance, 
and in all differences, between our citizens and the 
agents of the Pope, as to the temporalities of the 
Romish church, to lay the subject before his royal 
holiness^ and be governed by his decision. 

Witness the difference between Bishop Hughes 



u% 

of New York, and the trustees of a Roman Catholic 
church in Buffalo^ only a few weeks ago. Witness 
that in New Orleans, between the bishop and the 
trustees of the Roman Catholic church. All these 
were referred to the Pope, who decided the matter^ 
without any respect or regard to the laws of this gov- 
ernment. Call you this spiritual allegiance ? Call 
you this an exercise of spiritual power, on the part 
of his royal holiness the Pope ? Yes, you do ; and 
it would not much surprise me, if the Papists of this- 
very city of Boston should recommend to its legis- 
lature, to lay the difficulties between themselves 
and the state of South Carolina, before the Pope 
of Rome for adjudication. 

Should the day ever arrive, when the Papists 
have a majority in your legislature, and a difter- 
ence should occur between these states, the Pope 
will be called in to decide it. I am at a loss to 
know how, even in these days of transcendental- 
ism, any other meaning can be given to spiritual 
allegiance, than that which the Roman Catholic 
gives it in practice. They consider the Pope, as 
the spiritual head of the church, has, a fortiori^ 
a divine right to be the head and sovereign of the 
world. This is the sense in which Catholics under- 
stand and act upon it, and swear to support the 
Pope, as the supreme arbiter of the destinies of the 
world. The Chinese understood this. The em- 
peror of Russia understands it at the present day ; 
and though a Catholic himself, no priest or bishop, 
within his vast dominions, dare avow any allegiance, 
spiritual or temporal, to the king or Pope of Rome. 
The holy synod of St. Petersburg, Russia, have 
notified the Catholic missionaries, who have in- 
cited rebellion, and interfered with the civil author- 
ities in Georgia, to renounce their intercourse with 



AS IT WAS ATsD AS IT IS. 143 

the see of Rome, or quit the country. But Ameri- 
cans, in the alembic of their fertile brains, have 
manufactured a definition for spiritual (^llegiance, 
peculiarly their own, for which the Papists are so 
much obliged to them, that whenever an opportu- 
nity of knocking out the aforesaid brains occurs, 
they will do so. Witness in the Philadelphia riots, 
<fcc., &c., strong proofs of the spirituality of that 
allegiance which Catholics owe to the Pope. 

Permit me to give you another evidence of the 
nature of that allegiance to the Pope of Rome, to 
which I have heretofore alluded. It is to be found 
in the massacre of the Huguenots, by Roman 
Catholics. There is no event in the history of 
France, with which the world is more familiar, 
than this. Several historians have related it with 
great minuteness and much elegance. To these I 
can add nothing of my own, and the reader is 
more indebted to them, for the following statement, 
than to myself. 

Massacre of the Huguenots. 

This bloody massacre took place immediately 
after the conclusion of the treaty of St. Germain, 
at which the hostilities which had so long existed 
between the Catholics and Protestants in France, 
were suspended, or, as the Protestants believed, 
were entirely terminated. The sufferings of the 
Protestants, up to the conclusion of that treaty, 
were truly great. Their property was wasted ; 
their beautiful chateans were burned and levelled 
to the ground ; their flourishing vineyards were 
destroyed, and they themselves were left, reduced 
in property and numbers ; but great as were their 
calamities, the spirit which lived within them was 
not quenched. Their hearts, though oppressed, 



144 



SYNOPSIS OF POPERYy 



were not broken. The love of God bore them tip 
against all their trials and privations. Among those 
who suffeijed most in the Protestant cause, was the 
brave and pious Admiral Coiigny, who, after the 
treaty of St. Germain, and the destruction of his 
beautiful estates by order of the Popish and bloody 
Catharine, retired to Rochelle. Even here there 
was no safety for him, Tfie licentious queen, and 
her paramours, consisting of priests, determined on 
his destruction. It is said of this woman, that she 
occupied t\ve!\^e years of her life in instructing her 
son Charles to swear, to blaspheme, to break hi& 
word, and to disguise his thoughts as well as face. 
We are told by contemporary historians, that this 
blessed daughter of the holy church supplied him 
with small animals, when a child, and a sharp 
sword to cut off their heads, and shed their blood 
by stabbing them ; all this lo familiarize him with 
the shedding of blood, and that at some future day 
he might indulge in the same amusement upon a 
larger scale, in cutting off the heads and stabbing 
heretics and Protestants. The persecutions of the 
Huguenots are known almost lo all readers; few 
there are, who are not familiar with them. The 
illustrious characters, who headed the Protestant 
cause in those days, are known lo all Protestant 
Americans, but none of them, perhaps, more inti- 
mately than the great Coiigny, who was one of 
the first martyrs to that wretched Popish thing, in 
the shape of a woman, Catharine de Medicis, 
regent of France. I trust, therefore, the reader 
will pardon me for giving a few iiicidents in the 
life of this nobleman and martyr, during one of the 
regencies of this Popish queen Catharine, After 
the marriage of Henry of Navarre, Coiigny, as we 
are told, suddenly retired from the banquet given 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 145 

upon the occasion at the Louvre. It was remarked 
that he seemed sad and dejected. He retired to 
his hotel, which he would have gladly left and re- 
turned home, but dreading that he might alarm his 
wife, he preferred writing to her, explaining mat- 
ters as far as he could, under existing circumstances. 
The letter is so interesting, so affectionate, and 
altogether so worthy of the good man, that I can- 
not refrain from laying it before my readers. It 
ivas as follows : ■ — 

<« My very dear and much beloved wife : 

'^ This day, was performed the cere- 
mony of marriage between the king's sister and 
the king of Navarre. Th(? ensuing three or four 
days will be spent in amusements, banquets, 
masks, and sham-fights. The king has assured 
me that, immediately afterwards, he will give 
me some days to ' hear the complaints, made in 
divers parts of the kingdom, touching the edict of 
pacification, Avhich is violated there. It is with 
good reason that I attend to this matter as much as 
possible ; for, though I have a strong wish to see 
you, still you would be angry with me (as I think) 
if I were remiss in such an aifair, and harm came 
of it from my neglect to do my duty. At any 
rate, this delay will not retard my departure 
from this place so long but that I shall have leave 
to quit it next week. If 1 had regard to myself 
alone, I had much rather be with you than stay 
longer here, for reasons which I will tell you. 
But we ought to consider the public welfare as far 
more important than our private benefit. I have 
some other things to tell you, as soon as I shall 
have the means to see you — which I desire, day 
and night. As for the news that I have to tell you, 
13 



146 



SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 



they are these: This day, at four in the aftef- 
noorij the bells were rang, when the mass of the 
bride was chanted. The king of Navarre walked 
about the while in an open place near the church,, 
with some gentlemen of our religion who bad ae-* 
companied him. There are other little particulars" 
which I omit, intending to tell you them when i 
see you. Whereupon. I pray God, my most dear 
and beloved wife, to have you in his holy keepings 
From Paris, this 18th of Augost, 1572. 

'' Three days back I was tormented with colic 
and pain in the loins. But this complaint lasted 
only eight or ten hours, thanks be to God, throiirgh 
whose goodness I am now delivered from those 
pains. Be asstired on my part, that amidst these 
festivities and pastimes, I wilJ i^ot give offence to^ 
any one.. Adieu, once more, 

"Your loving husband, 

" Chastixlon.-'' 

After having despatched the above letter, Coligny 
deemed it his duty to see the king before he left 
Paris. His sole object in so doing was to obtain, 
if possible, some concessiorrsy or at least some 
guarantee for the future protection of the persecuted 
Protestants, of whom he was a member. 

The king received him well, promised him all 
he asked ; but the king consulted the Pope's nun- 
• cio, who was then in the city, and that holy man 
advised him to keep no faith with that Protestant 
Ccligny, but on the contrary, to make all the use 
he could of him, in order the more effectually to 
accomplish the destruction of the heretical band to 
wluch he belonged. Afterreceiving this Christian 
advice, the king became apparently more friendly 
to Coligny, and went so far as to promise him a 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 147 

s^afe escort on his way home. ^^ If you approve 
of it," said the king to Coligny, '• I will send for the 
guard of my Arquebusiers for the greater safety of 
all, for fear they might unawares do you a mis- 
chief; and they shall come under officers who are 
known to you." The generous and unsuspecting 
Christian, Coligny, accepted the offer of the guards, 
and twelve hundred of them were ordered into the 
city. There were many of the Protestants in the 
city, who, on seeing this array of troops, felt alarmed 
for the safety of their friend Coligny ; they whis- 
pered their fears to the brave warrior, who until 
then did not even dream of treachery. But now, 
fearing that something might be wrong, he re- 
solved to see the queen mother. She expected 
this, and granted him an interview with great appa- 
rent pleasure. As soon as he commenced to sug- 
gest any fears or apprehensions of treachery, this 
holy daughter of the church, suddenly interrupting 
him, exclaiming, ''Good God, sir admiral," said she, 
'' let us enjoy ourselves while these festivities con- 
tinue. I promise you on the faith of a queen, that 
in four days I will make you contented, and those 
of your religion." Coligny had now the word of a 
king, and the honor of a queen, as a guarantee for 
his own safety, and that of the Protestants in Prance. 
Who could any longer doubt that they were safe ? 
Who could believe that a king would violate a 
solemn promise freely given? Who could question 
the honor of a lady and the promise of a queen? 
Who would venture to assert that a mother would 
not use her best effort to redeem the honor and 
plighted faith of a son, and that son a king ? No one 
but a Roman Catholic could doubt it. Charles was 
a Roman Catholic king. His church taught him, 
that no faith was to be kept with heretics. Coligny 



148 

was a heretic. Catharine, the queen mother, was a 
Roman Catholic ; her church taught her to keep 
no faith with heretics, but to '' destroy them, root 
and branch, under pain of eternal damnation." 
Heritici^destruendi is the doctrine of the Roman 
Catholic church ; and accordingly, on the evening 
of that very day on which Coligny had an audi- 
ence with the queen, these distinguished and pious 
children of the holy Roman Catholic church ap- 
pointed an interview with the Pope's nuncio, and 
after that holy man sung the Veni Creator SpirituSy 
(a hymn which they invariably sing, when layii^ 
any plan for the destruction of heretics,) these three 
worthy children of the infallible church resolved to 
send for the '' king's assassin," a man named Mau- 
reval, and ordered him to assassinate Coligny. It 
must be observed here, that the Pope's legate al- 
lowed Charles and his mother to keep an assassin, 
to cut down such thistles or tares as the devil may 
plant in the vineyard of the holy see. Soon after 
this, Coligny had occasion to go out on some busi- 
ness. The Popish assassin pursued him at a 
distance, secreted himself in a house where he 
knew he could deliberately shoot at him ; he did 
so, but the wound, though severe in the extreme, 
did not prove mortal. Among the first who visited 
him were the king and his mother; and such was 
the apparent grief of Catharine, that she shed tears 
for the sufferings of the warrior. The good son of 
this good mother mingled his tears with hers, 
promising that the assassin, whoever he was, should 
be brought to condign punishment ; but need I now 
tell you, Americans, that the tears of this Popish 
queen, for the sufferings of this Protestant, were 
like those of the hyena, that moans in the most 
piteous strains, while sucking the life-blood of its 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 149 

victim ? Need I tell you they were like those of the 
crocodile, which sheds them in abundance while 
devouring its prey ? Need I inform you that by 
her promises of future protection, she resembled the 
fiUhy buzzard, which spreads its wings over the 
body or carcass ofjts prey, while plunging its beak 
into its very entrails? And such 1 tell you now, 
as I have told you before, Americans, and shall tell 
you while I live, is the sympathy, and such the 
protection which every good mother and son of the 
holy Roman Catholic church would extend to 
you, yonr Protestant religion and its followers, in 
these United States. 

We will now pass over the various meetings held 
by the king, his mother, queen Catharine, and the 
Pope's nuncio, for the purpose of dtevising ways 
and means, not for the death of Coligny, but for 
the destruction of all the Protestants in France. 
To detail these would be a tedious undertaking ; 
and not more tedious than revolting to 'the best 
feelings of humanity. Depravity was reduced to a 
science in the court of Catharine, and her son 
Charles. She employed even her ladies of honor 
for the seduction of her young nobility. They 
were ladies — I should say human things — select- 
ed for their beauty, and trained up by this royal 
mother in the Romish church, in habits of ut- 
ter abandonment to seduction and lasciviousness. 
Young men of honor, virtue, and patriotism, 
were introduced to them, by Catharine, especially 
those who were at ail suspected of being favorable 
to Protestantism. These onaids were required to 
ascertain from these young noblemen who, and 
how many of their young friends were friendly to 
the cause of Protestantism, with a view of marking 
them for extermination, as soon as herself and the 
13 * 



150 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

Pope's legate should deem it expedient to do so. 
The hour at last arrived, when the holy trio deemed 
it expedient to order a general massacre of the Prot- 
estants. T^e order was issued. The bells of 
the Roman Catholic churches were rung, and the 
royal order ^' Kill ! kill ! kill ! " all, was issued by 
the king, and repeated by his Roman Catholic 
mother. I could not if I would, nor would I if I 
could, describe the scene that followed. Suffice it 
to say, that particular orders were given not to 
spare Admiral Coligny. Blameless as was his life, 
and devoted as he was to his king and government, 
yet he was a Protestant, and must die, and that by 
the hand of a Popish assassin. The holy church 
reserved to herself the glory of murdering this 
heretic. As soon as the order to murder was given, 
a rush was made towards the residence of Coligny. 
They entered his chamber, and to use the language 
of another, ^' they found him sitting in an arm- 
chair, Ws arms folded, his eyes half upturned 
with angelic serenity towards heaven, looking the 
image of a righteous man falling asleep in the 
Lord. One of the murderers, a pious Catholic, called 
Besma, fixing his fiendish eye upon the admiral, 
asked him, 'Art thou the admiral?' pointing his 
sword at him at the same time. ^ I am the admi- 
ral,' replied Coligny. .'Young man, thou shouldst 
have regard for my age and infirmities ; ' " but the 
murderer plunged his sword into the Christian 
hero's breast, pulled it out, and thrust it in again. 
Thus died this noble Protestant ! Thus died the 
veteran Coligny, by the hands of a Popish boy ! 
And for what? He believed in the Bible — he was 
a Protestant. And thus, fellow Protestants of the 
United States, will your posterity be sacrificed, for 
similar crimes, unless God in his mercy drive from 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 151 

your land, and mine by adoption, every vestige of 
the Popish religion. No sooner was Coligny put 
to death, than his head was cut off and presented to 
dueen Catharine, who sent for her perfumer, and 
ordered it to be embalmed and forwarded to the 
Pope, as a mark of her devotion to the holy see. 
But even this did not satisfy the queen. Her 
Popish bloodhounds, on hearing of Coligny's mur- 
der, rushed through the streets to his apartments, 
searching every where for his mangled body, and 
having found it, a general cry was raised, ^' The 
admiral ! the admiral ! " They tied his legs and 
his arms together, and dragged them through the 
streets shouting, '^Here he comes, the admiral!^' 
One cut off his ears, another his legs, another his 
nose, hands, (fcc. They abandoned the body, to 
let the boys amuse themselves by inspecting it, 
and then tumbled it into the river. But the zeal- 
ous Catharine was not satisfied yet. This good 
daughter of the Pope ordered the river to be 
dragged, until what remained of Coligny was 
found, and then ordered it to be hung in chains on 
a gibbet at a place called Mountfagon. A contem- 
porary writer, a Roman Catholic, speaking of this, 
says: ^^ the road to Mountfa^on was a scene of in- 
cessant bustle, created by the gentlemen of Catha- 
rine's court, who, in splendid dresses and perfumed 
with essences, went to insult the relics of Coligny. 
Catharine also went with her numerous retinue. 
Charles accompanied his mother. On arriving be- 
fore the gallows, the courtiers turned away their 
heads, and held their noses on account of the 
stench arising from the half putrefied remains. 
' Poh ! ' said Charles and his mother, to their cour- 
tiers, ^ the dead body of a heretic always smells 
well.' " On returning home she consulted with 



152 SYNOPSIS OF POPERYj 

her confessor, who advised her, now that the devil 
had the heretic's body, it would be well to have a 
solemn high mass for the occasion, to be said at the 
church of St. Germain, at which Charles -and his 
mother attended, and a Te Deum was sung in 
honor of the glorious victory gained by the church, 
by the destruction of so many heretics. 

As soon as the Pope heard this news, his holi- 
ness despatched a special messenger to France, to 
congratulate the king on having '^ caught so many 
heretics in one net." So joyous and elated did his 
royal holiness appear, that he offered a high reward 
for the best engraving of the massacre ; having, on 
one side, as a motto, ^^ the triumph of the 
CHURCH ; " and on the other, '^ the pontiff approves 
OF THE murder OF COL.IGNY." This cugraving is 
now to be seen in the Vatican of Rome. 

The number of those who were massacred on 
St. Bartholomew's day is variously stated. Mazary 
makes it thirty thousand ; others over sixty : but 
the Pope's nuncio, who was on the spot during the 
massacre, in a letter to the Pope, tells him, '^the 
number was so great it was impossible to esti- 
mate it.'' ^ 

Recollect, American Protestants, that this massa- 
cre, and others to which I have alluded, was not 
the work of a few fanatics. It was the work of a 
nation, by their representative, the king, empowered 
to do so by the head of thcRoman Catholic church. 
In vain is it for Papists to tell us that all this blood- 
shedding and destruction of human life was the 
work of a few, with which the church was nei- 
ther chargeable nor accountable. Americans may be- 
lieve them if they will. Let them believe. *' There 
are none so blind as those who will not see." If 
neither the testimony of history, nor a statement 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 153 

of facts, bearing all the necessary evidence of truth, 
will convince them, vain indeed are my efforts to 
do so. But there is no impropriety in my earnestly 
and solemnly appealing to Americans, and suggest- 
ing one or two questions, which they should put 
to any Roman CathoHc who may deny that the 
church ever sanctioned those evil deeds of which I 
have spoken. Have you any record of the fact, that 
the church ever discountenanced the destruction of 
heretics ? Did the Popish authorities ever deliver 
up those whom they knew to have murdered her- 
etics to the civil tribunals ? Were there ever any 
heretics murdered, as such, except by the advice, 
counsel, and connivance of the Popish church and 
her priests ? If there Vv^ere, in what country, in 
what age, and if! what reign ? Until these ques- 
tions can be truly answered, you are not to be satis- 
fied. Bat why will Americans, for a moment, en- 
tertain a doubt upon the subject ? Popish histori- 
ans never deny it. The actions of Papists all over 
the world proclaim it. The church of Rome has 
ever thirsted for the blood of heretics. She now 
yearns for an opportunity of shedding it again ; all 
for the purpose of '' purifying the earth of heresy." 
Do you not see that her conduct, in all ages and 
all places where she had opportunities, confirms 
this? Do you not even see, that in this country, 
the members of that church can scarcely keep their 
hands off you; and so bloody are the sentiments 
which they inherit, that, for want of other subjects, 
they will sometimes shed that of each other ? 
What would they not have done, a few weeks ago, 
in Philadelphia, had they the power? What in 
New York ? What in Boston, or any where else in 
the United States ? Do you not see, in all your in- 
tercourse with them, the ill-concealed hatred which 



154 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

they bear you ? If yoii have any charitable institu- 
tions for the support of Protestants, will they aid 
you ? If you hold a fair for the purpose of build- 
ing a church, or for any other Protestant purpose, 
will they attend it and purchase from you ? They 
will not. If they do, they commit a sin against the 
church, and the power of absolving from that sin 
is reserved for the bishop of the diocese. It is a 
reserved case^ as the church terms it. It is only by 
virtue of a dispensatio7i, granted by the Pope to 
this country, that a Roman Catholic is even allowed 
to attend the funeral of a Protestant ; and should he 
go into one of your churches, even though there' 
was no service at the time, if he is a true son of 
the church, he will hasten to hisj)riest and obtain 
absolution for that special crime. Yet, if they want 
churches built, you will furnish them with money. 
If they v/ant land to build them upon, you will give 
it to them. Is this wise in you ? You are denounced 
in those churches as heretics ; your religion ridi- 
culed, and yourselves laughed at. Your motives 
are undoubtedly good. You believe, because you do 
not know to the contrary, that, by your contribu- 
tions, you are advancing the cause of morality. 
You do not reflect — and perhaps the idea never 
occ*irred to you — that there is a wide diff*erence 
between the religion of a Protestant and that of a 
Papist. That of the Protestant teaches him to be a 
moral and virtuous man ; whereas, that of the Pa- 
pist has not the remotest connection with virtue. 
A Catholic need not dream of virtue, and yet be a 
member of that church. 

The most atrocious villain, as an eminent writer 
expresses it, may be rigidly devout, and without any 
shock to public sentiment in Catholic countries, or 
even among Roman Catholics in the United States, 



A3 IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 155 

Ileligion, as the same writer says, and as we all 
know, at least as many of us as have been in those 
countries, and who are acquainted with Catholics in 
this^ is a passion, an excuse, a refuge, but never a 
check. It is called by Papists themselves refugium 
peccatorum. Hence it is, that priests may be drunk- 
ards, and their flocks never think the worse of them* 
1 have known some of them, whose private rooms 
where they heard confessions, were sinks of de- 
baucheries, which a regard for pubHc decency pre- 
vents me from mentioning. I have known females, 
who have been seduced by them, and who after- 
wards regularly went to confession, under the 
impression which every Catholic is taught to feel, 
that no matter what a priest does, provided he 
speaks the language of the church. DonH nmid 
v)hat he does, but iimid what he speaks, is a proverb 
among the poor Irish Papists. None of them dare 
look me in the face and deny this, and yet these 
wretches talk of morals. But what think you, 
Protestants, of this kind of morality or of the church 
which does not even forbid it, and only requires to 
have it '^concealed from heretics?^'' Do you desire 
it propagated amongst you ? Do you wish your 
children to learn it ? No virtuous daughter or 
decent woman should ever venture under the same 
roof with those men. 

Paganism, in its worst stages, was a stronger 
check to the passions than Popery. I will give you 
one instance of the abominations of Popery. Pa- 
pists believe in the doctrine of the real presence 
of Christ, in the sacrament of the Eucharist. It 
is the duty of every priest in that church to admin- 
ister this sacrament to the dying, and for this pur- 
pose, they consecrate a number of small wafers, 
made of flour and water, each of which, they pre- 



IS6 



SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 



tend to believe, contains the body and bloody soul 
and divmity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
or in other words, the Lord God himself. The 
priests carry with them, in a small box called pixis, 
anumber of them to be given to the sick and dying. 
There are but few of them in the United States, 
in whose breeches' pockets may not be found, at 
any hour of the day. at least a dozen of those gods. 
Can there be religion here ? Can there be morality 
among those men or their followers ? I would go 
further, and ask, Is there any thing in Paganism 
equally impious or more revolting to God or man? 
They know full well that such a creed cannot be 
sustained either by reason or Scripture, and hence 
it is. they want all power concentrated in the Pope 
of Rome, in order to extirpate their opponents, 
Protestant heretics. Papists understand the char- 
acter of Americans, and are well aware, that if suf- 
ficiently satisfied of the existence among them, of 
a sect who believed in a doctrine so absurd, and so 
impiously profane, as that of the real bodily pres- 
ence of Christ in the Eucharist^ they could not 
countenance them. My own impression is, that if 
the people of Boston, where I write, knew that 
Catholic priests taught their followers to believe, 
that they (the priests) could make god's by the 
dozen, carry them in their pockets, take them out 
when and where they pleased, and there kneel to 
them, in adoration^ they would have them indicted 
under the statute against blasphemy. The Rev. 
Abner Kneeland was indicted because he denied 
the procession of the Holy Ghost, and found guilty 
of blasphemy. But what was his crime, when 
compared with that of Romish bishops and priests ! 
It was bad enough, to be sure, in the eyes of all 
Christian men, and few questioned the righteous* 



t 

AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 157 

ness of the verdict of his guilt. If a Pagan priest 
should arrive amongst us, bringing with him his 
gods, and worshipping them in-our midst, should we 
sanction him ? I know not that our constitution 
forbids sucli a thing, but the reverence which we 
have for the one true God. our love of morality and 
good order, would forbid it. VV^e would accuse and 
indict them for blasphemy. But is their blasphemy 
more horrid than that of the Romish church ? 

The Pagan priest hews his god out of wood; 
the Popish priest makes his out of flour and wa- 
ter. The Pagan priests convey their gods in some 
vehicle, from place to place, and stop to worship 
them, wherever theur inclination or devotion 
prompts them. The Romish priests carry theirs in 
their pockets, or otherwise, as occasion or love of 
pomp may suggest. 

Where, Americans, is the difference ? Which is 
the greater blasphemer ? Which is the bolder and 
more reckless violator of that great commandment, 
*• / am the Lord thy God^ ^' Thou shalt have 
none other gods before me " ? You will not hesi- 
tate to decide. The Pagan may be honest in his 
belief; he may worship according to the light that 
is in him, or the knowledge that has reached him. 
He may never have seen the Gospel. The Day 
Star from on high may never have arisen over 
him, or illumined his path ! ^' The morning upon 
the mountains '' may perhaps never have gladdened 
his vision ; he may, to us at least, be excusable, 
and as far as we can see, without offence before 
God. But is the Romish priest, who makes his 
god out of flour and water, and worships it, sin- 
less? Is he not an idolater ? What can be more 
blasphemous than to believe that a wafer, made of 
flour and water, can be changed, by the incanta- 
14 



158 SVNOPSiS OF POPERY, 

tions of a Romish priest, into the God of heaven 
and earth ! 

The Popish church teaches that the flour, of 
which the wafer is made, loses its substance, and 
all its natural properties, and is changed by (he 
Avords of consecration into the Almighty God ; that 
is, it is no longer flour and water ; it is changed7 — 
not spiritually^ as Protestants believe, — but actu- 
ally and really becomes the body and bloody soul 
and divinity of Jesus Christ, such as it was when 
nailed to the cross, and as such they v/orship the 
Avafer. If this is not idolatry, I cannot understand 
what idolatry is. If this is not blasphemy, I wish 
some New England gentleman of the ministry, or 
the bar, would explain it, and tell me what they 
mean by their statute against blasphemy. 

Does blasphemy, in their estimation, mean noth- 
ing ? or is it something introduced into our laws, 
only for the purpose of exercising the ingenuity of 
legal and ecclesiastical casuists ? Surely, if the word 
has any meaning whatever, in law or morals, in 
church or state ; if it can be enforced at all, and 
there is such a crime as blasphemy, it should be en- 
forced against the Romish priest or bishop, who 
bows and teaches his followers to bow, in adoration, 
to a piece of bread and water, and thus blasphe- 
mously insult, as far as poor mortals can, the great 
and living God. Surely, the state authority, which 
would institute a criminal prosecution for blas- 
phemy against Kneeland, because he did not be- 
lieve the Holy Ghost to proceed '' from the Father 
and the Son," and does not prosecute for blasphemy 
Popish priests, who believe, and teach their follow- 
ers! to believe, that they can create, or rather man- 
ufacture as many gods as they please, out of flour 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 159 

and water, either neglects his duty, or his knowl- 
edge of it is very equivnical. 

Either this is the case, or the treatment of Knee- 
land originated in some cruel persecution. The lat- 
ter I am far from believing. 

As a citizen of this state, I would ask respect- 
fully, why proceedings, under the statute against 
blasphemy, are not immediately commenced against 
Popish priests ? Is it because Kneeland was friend- 
less and alone, that he was selected as a proper vic- 
tim ? and is it because Popish priests are supported 
by a large party, equally criminal with themselves, 
that they are spared? Not at all, say the sympathizers 
with Popery. Kneeland made a noise in his meet- 
ings; they were troublesome in the neighborhood 
where they were held. Be it so. I will not deny 
this, nor do I wish to be considered as the apologist 
of Kneeland, his blasphemies, or his meetings ; but 
1 would ask the prosecuting officer of the state, 
whether Kneeland's meetings were more noisy than 
Popish repealers ? Were they even half so turbu- 
lent or uproarious ? Let those whose duty it is an- 
swer the question, and tell us why priests are not 
prosecuted for blasphemy. I contend that if there 
is one blasphemy under the sun more revolting than 
another, it is that of believing and teaching that a 
wafer can be changed from what God made it, in- 
t^ that same Almighty God, by mumbling over it a 
few Latin words. It makes me shudder at the 
weakness of man, and the unaccountable influence 
of early education, to think that I myself once be- 
lieved in this horribly blasphemous doctrine. 

The doctrine of Popish priests in adoring a wa- 
fer made of bread and water, and their mode of 
manufacturing the wafer into God, is not only blas- 
phemous, but extremely ludicrous. 



160 SYxNOPSlS OF POPERY, 

Has the reader et^er seen a Popish priest in the 
act of making, or metamorphosing bread and water 
into Jlesli and blood 1 If he has not, it would be 
well, if not profane, to witness it ; for never before 
has he seen such mountebank tricks. The priest, 
this great creator of flesh and blood out of flour 
and water, appears decked out in as many gew- 
gaws as would adorn a Pagan priestess, and about 
twice as many as would be necessary for a Jewish 
rabbi. Amid the ringing of small bells, dazzling 
lights, genuflections, crossings, incense, and a va- 
riety of other such '^ tricks before high Heaven," 
this clerical mountebank metamorphoses this wafer 
into God^ and exhibits it to his followers, whom he 
calls upon to go on their knees and adore it. This 
horrible practice should induce our philanthropistSj 
who are sending vast sums abroad for the conver- 
sion of the Pagan, to pause and ask themselves, 
whether there is, in the whole moral wilderness of 
Paganism, any thing worse, or half so bad, as that 
idolatry which we have at our own doors 1 

If a being from some unknown world, and to 
whom this world of ours was as little known as 
the one from which he came was to us, should, by 
accident or otherwise, arrive among us, and we 
were to take him into a Roman Catholic church 
during the celebration of mass, and there tell him, 
that the great actor in the service was making fle^ 
and blood out of bread and water, and could actu- 
ally accomplish that feat, he would unhesitatingly 
award to these United States the credit of having 
among them some of the most accomplished jug- 
glers in the world. 

What are your Eastern fire-eaters, sword-swal- 
lowers, and dervises, to a Popish priest ? Why, it 
would be easier to swallow a rapier, ten feet long, 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 161 

or a ball of fire as largo as the mountain Orizaba, 
than to metamorphose flour and water into the 
^' great and holy God^ who created the heavens 
and the earth, and all that is therein." 

Let me not be accused of levity, or want of rever- 
ence to that iVlmighty Being, to whom I am indebt- 
ed for my creation and preservation, and on whom 
alone, through the merits of the Saviour, my hopes 
of salvation are placed. My only object is, to call 
the attention of my fellow-citizens to the absurd 
and profane doctrines of Popery ; and that having 
seen them, in their true colors, it is to be hoped 
they will find little favor from a thinking and reflect- 
ing peo[de. 

It is extremely unpleasant to my feelings, thus 
to expose the profanity of a religion which I once 
professed, and inculcated upon the minds of others ; 
bat the best atonement 1 can make for my uncon- 
scious offence to my God and my fellow-beings is, 
to acknowledge my error, and caution others against 
falling into the snares which an early education, re- 
ceived from priests and Jesuits, had precipitated me. 
The reader will therefore pardon me if I lay before 
him a few more Popish extravagances. 

It is generally known, that Papists believe in the 
doctrines of miracles. So do I, and so do all Chris- 
tians. But it is not »o well known that the mira- 
cles, in which Protestants believe, diff*er widely from 
those which the Romish church teaches her fol- 
lowers. We believe the miracles recorded in the 
Holy Scriptures ; to these, however, the infallible 
church pays little or no attention, but hands us down 
a catalogue of miracles, for the truth of which she 
herself vouches, and calls upon all to receive them 
as the '' genuine article." It may be edifying, and 
if not, it cannot fail to be amusing to American 
]4# 



162 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

Protestants, to see a specimen or two of Popish 
miracles. I assure the reader, they are very fair 
ones, to my own personal knowledge, and consid- 
ered as such by every true Roman Catholic in this 
city of Boston as well as elsewhere. 

St. Hieronymus, better known by the name Je- 
rome, who died early in the fifth century, relates 
the following miracle : — ^'iVfter St. Hilary was ban- 
ished from France to Phrygia, he met in the wil- 
derness a. huge Bactrian camel, and having seen, in 
a vision, that his camelship was possessed of the 
devil, he exorcised him, and the devil sprang out 
from him, running uild through tlie wilderness, 
leaving behind him a strong smell of brimstone." 
He tells us another miracle, with much gravity. 
•'Paul the Hermit,'' says this saint, -'happening to 
die in the wilderness, his body remained unburied, 
until discovered by St. Anthony. The saint being 
alone, and not having the means of digging a grave, 
nor strength enough to place in it the body of the 
hermit, prayed to the Virgin Mary to aid him in his 
difficulties. The result was, two lions, of the 
largest species, walked up to him, licked his hands, 
and told him that they would dig the grave them- 
selves with their feet, and place the body of Paul 
in it. They did so ; and liaving finished their busi- 
ness, went on their knees, asked the saint's blessing, 
and vanished in the woods. *' 

Palladus, who lived in the fit^th century, and 
was greatly distinguished in the Romish church, 
tells us of a hyena, which, in a certain wood in 
Greece, killed a slieep. The next day, a pious 
hermit, w^ho happened to live in the neighbor- 
hood, was surprised at seeing this hyena at the 
door of his cave : and on asking it what was the 
matter, the hyena addressed him in the following 



AS IT . WAS AND AS IT IS. 163 

language : '^ Holy father, the odor of thy sanctity 
reached me ; I killed a sheep last night, and I came 
to ask your absolution." The saint granted it, and 
the hyena departed in peace. We find in Butler's 
Lives of the Saints, which is for sale in almost all 
Roman Catholic bookstores, an account of some 
most extraordinary miracles, for the truth of which, 
the infallible church pledges her veracity. For 
instance ; when heretics cut off the head of St. 
Dennis, the saint took it up, put it under his arm, 
and marched off some miles with it. Butler relates 
another extraordinary miracle, and if American 
Protestants presume to doubt it, they may expect a 
bull from the Pope of Rome. 

A certain lady in Wales, named Winnefride, was 
addressed by a young prince, named Oaradoc. But 
she, being a niin^ could not listen to his addresses. 
The young prince got impatient, and finally, in 
a fit of rage and disappointment, he pursued her in 
one of her walks, and cut off her head. A saint, 
by the name of Beuno, hearing of this outrage, 
went in pursuit of Caradoc, and having come up 
with him, he caused the earth to open and swallow 
him. Upon his returning where the nim'^s head 
fell, he found that a well had opened, emitting a 
stream of the purest water, the drinking of which, 
to this day, is believed to cast out devils. When 
the holy St. Beuno looked at the head of the mm, 
he took it up and kissed it, placed it on a stump, 
and said mass. No sooner was the mass finished, 
than the beheaded nun jumped up, with her head 
on, as if nothing had happened. 

Come forward, Americans, if you dare, and deny 
this miracle. The holy church vouches for its 
truth. St. Patrick, the great patron of Daniel 
O'Connell, whom his holiness the Pope calls the 
greatest layman liping^ performed some very ex- 



164 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY 



traordinary miracles, as we are told : among them 
was the following : A poor boy strayed from home, 
and die.d of starvation, or something else, and 
the body was nearly devoured by hogs, when St. 
Patrick, chancing to pass that way, discovered it in 
this mutilated condition. The holy saint touched 
it, and it instantly sprang into life, resuming its 
former shape and proportions. On another occa- 
sion, as we read in the Lives of t^ie Saints, St. 
Patrick fed fourteen hundred people with the flesh 
^f one cow, two wild boars, and two stags; and 
what is more strange than all, the same old cow 
was seen, on the following morning, brisk and mer- 
rily grazing on the very same field where she was 
killed, cooked, and eaten by the multitude. 

We read of another very great miracle, which 
no Roman Catholic can doubt, without running the 
risk of being considered a heretic. St. Xavier, who 
is considered one of the most distinguished saints in 
the Romish church, had a valuable crucifix. On 
one of his journeys at sea. it fell overboard, much 
to his regret. When he arrived at his place of 
destination, he took a walk along shore, meditating 
on the poAver, grandeyr, and infallibility of the 
mother of saints, and what v/as the first object that 
caught his eye ? Lo, and behold, he saw a crab 
moving towards him, hearing in its mouth the 
- saint's crucifix, and continued to adv^ance until he 
reverently laid it at his feet. No Roman Catholic 
writer, since the days of St. Xavier, questions the 
truth of this miracle. 

The Popish biographers of St. Xavier tell us of 
another great miracle performed by him, the truth 
of which is attested by the infallihle church. 
The devil tempted Xavier, and the ^^ old boy^^ 
assumed the shape of a lovely female ; the saint 
ordered her off, but she refused, and attacked him 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 165 

again on the same day; but the saint, unwilling to 
be annoyed any longer, spit in the devil's face, and 
he instantly fled. 

I cannot dismiss this subject without relating a 
few more of those miracles which Roman Catho- 
lics believe. They may be seen in Belarmine's 
Treatise on the Holy Eucharist j book iii. ch. 8. St. 
Anthony, of Padua, got into an argument with a 
heretic, concerning the doctrine of transubstaiitia- 
tion, or the changing of bread and water, by 
Romish priests, into the flesh and blood of Jesus^ 
Christ. After arguing the question for a long 
time, the heretic proposed to St. Anthony to settle 
their controversy in the following manner : '^ I 
have a horse,'' said the heretic, ^^ which I will keep 
fasting for three days ; at the expiration of that 
time, come with your host (an image) and I will 
meet you with my horse. I will pour out some 
grain to my horse, and you will hold the host be- 
fore him ; if he leave the grain, and adores the 
host, I shall believe." They met, and St. An- 
thony addressed the horse in the following words. 
I translate, Hteral I y, from^that illustrious writer in 
the Roman church, Belarmine* 

^' In virtue, and in the name of thy creator, 
whom I truly hold in my hand, I command and 
enjoin thee, O horse, to come, and laith humility, 
adore Ai?7i." The horse, ijistanter, left his corn, 
advanced toioards the host in the pinesfs hand, 
and, devoutly kneeling, adored it as his God, 

St. Andrew, as we read in Romish history, was 
a man of great eminence and sanctity. Papists 
pray for his intercession daily. The infallible 
church informs us, that he performed some very 
great miracles. I Ijeg to give my readers one, as 
a sample of the many which he performed 



166 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

The devil, armed with au axe, and accompanied 
by several minor devils, with clubs in their hands, 
made an attack upon the saint, whereupon he called 
upon St. John, the apostle, to rescue him. St. 
John lost no time in making his appearance, and 
summoning some holy angels to aid him, with 
chains in their hands, he rescued St. Andrew from 
these devils, and chained every one of them to the 
spot; whereupon, as we are informed in the Acts 
of the Saints^ vSt. Andrew burst into laughter, and 
the devils fell to screaming and crying mercy. 

In the year 1796, a work, entitled Offidal Me- 
rtioirs^ was published in Ireland, under the authority 
of Dr. Bray, archbishop of Cushel, and Dr. Troy, 
archbishop of Dublin. In this work it is stated 
— and to doubt the fact in Ireland, would be 
heresy — that in the month of May, 1796, at 
Toricedi, tears were seen to flow from the eyes of 
a wooden image of the Virgin Mary. Impious as 
such doctrines are, they are now believed by 
Roman Catholics. 

I was myself personally acquainted with arch- 
bishop Troy, and I reno^mber, when young, that 
he and the priests by whom I was instructed, took 
much more pains in impressing upon my mind the 
truth of such mJracles, as that of the wooden Vir- 
gin Mary, than they did the truths of the Gospel ; 
and, in fact, ev^ery Catholic is taught to rest his sal- 
vatioti, almost entirely, upon the intercession of the 
virgin. Ninety-nine in a hundred of Irish Catho- 
lics rest all their hopes of salvation on the Virgin 
Mary. They adore her, they worship her, and 
what is worse, Popish bishops and priests teach 
them to do so. They even compel them to adore 
the virgin, though the miserable beings have the 
hardihood to deny it before Americans. But will 
they dare do it before me ? When a poor, ignorant 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 



167 



Catholic goes to confession, the usual penance im- 
posed by the priest, for minor offences, is the repe- 
tition of the following address to the Virgin Mary, 
two or three times a day, for a week or more, ac- 
cording to the heinousness of the sin committed : — 



'' Holy Mary, 
Holy mother of God, 
Holy virgin of virgins, 
Mother of Christ, 
Mother of divine grace, 
Mother most pure, 
Mother most chaste. 
Mother undefiled, 
Mother untouched. 
Mother most amiable, 
Mother most admirable. 
Mother of our Creator, 
Mother of our Redeemer, 
Virgin most prudent. 
Virgin most venerable, 
Virgin most renowned. 
Virgin most powerful. 
Virgin most merciful. 
Virgin most faithful. 
Mirror of justice. 
Seat of wisdom, 
Cause of our joy. 

The above tissue of blasphemy is daily, nay, 
several times in a day, repeated by Catholic priests 
and their penitents ; and I am much mistaken, if 
there is upon the face of the globe, whether in 
Pagan, Mahometan, or Heathen countries or creeds, 
to be found any thing equally blasphemous, or 
more disgusting to the mind of any individual 
who believes in the pardon of sin through the 



Spiritual vessel, 
Vessel of honor, [tion. 
Vessel of singular devo- 
Mystical rose, 
Tower of David, 
Tower of ivory, 
House of gold. 
Ark of the covenant, 
Gate of heaven, 
Morning star, 
Health of the weak, 
Refuge of sinners, 
Comfort of the afflicted, 
Help of Christians, 
dueen of angels, 
Glueen of patriarchs, 
Glueen of prophets, 
Queen of apostles, 
Glueen of martyrs, 
Glueen of confessors, 
Queen of virgins, 
(iueen of all saints." 



168 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, » 

atonement of Christ ; and I hesitate not to say, 
that the Christian^, who countenances such a doc- 
trine, or contributes, in any way, to its propaga- 
tion, denies his Saviour, and shows himself 
unworthy of the name he bears. 

To the professed infidel I have nothing to say. 
To him, who mocks and scotfs at the Triune God, 
I will attach no blame ; with him I have nothing in 
common, further than brotherhood of the same 
species ; but I must ap|;eal to the Christian, and 
seriously ask him. Why do you encourage such 
blasphemy as this address to the Virgin Mary? 
Why do you encourage its propagation amongst 
your brethren? Why do you hold communion 
with those who utter it ? Would, the primitive 
Christians, if they now lived, hold any communion 
with idolaters ? Would they contribute their 
money to build temples for Isis and Dagon 1 
Would they basely bend the knee to the golden 
calf of old ? No. Sooner — much sooner — would 
they lay their heads upon the block. They would 
look upon it as a denial of their God, and a recan- 
tation of their faith in him. Would your Puritan 
forefathers give the right hand of fellowship to the 
worshippers of a wooden image ? Would they 
give their money to a priest, to build churches, and 
teach his followers that they could hew out for 
them images of w^ood, possessing power to work 
miracles, or in other words, to change the laws of 
nature, which the Eternal Law-Maker alone can 
change or suspend ? 

Custom, the point of the bayonet, or even that 
cruel tyrant, early education, may enforce such 
idolatry on the Old World ; but the free-born Amer- 
ican, unbiassed by education — unawed by tyrants 
— has no apology. His submission to such doc- 



As IT WAS AND AS it IS. 169 

t 

trines is an unqualified surrender of his reason, his 
religion, and the liberties of his country. 

When the star of our independence first arose, 
it was hailed by the Christian philosophers of the 
old world, as a foreshadowing of the downfall of 
tyranny, superstition, and idolatry. They looked 
upon it as fatal to the bastard Paganism, taught in 
the Popish church; but what must be their aston- 
ishment, if permitted at the present day to look 
down upon oar country, and see our people prac- 
tising that same Paganism, nicknamed Christianity, 
and asking from our government protection — a priv- 
ilege which the framers of our constitution never 
intended should be extended to tyrants or idolaters ! 

Here I would stop, and never more put pen to 
paper, for or against Popery, did I not see many of 
my fellow-citizens, possessing the finest minds and 
precious souls, falling victims to the sophistry, 
ingenuity, and quibbling casuistry of Popish priests 
and bishops. 

It is not long since I saw a letter from the Ro- 
man Catholic bishop Fenwick, of the diocese of 
Massachusetts, in which he informs the authori- 
ties of Rome that he is making converts from some 
of the first families in his diocese. This, I pre- 
sume, is correct, and these are the very individ- 
uals most easily imposed upon. They know noth- 
ing of Popery. They are not aware that Papists 
have two sides to the picture, which they exhibit 
of their church. One is fair, brilliant, dazzling, 
and seductive. Nothing is^ seen in their external 
forms of worship but showy vestments, dazzling 
lights, and the appearance of great devotion. 
Nothing is heard but the softest and most melting 
strains of music. No wonder these should capti-^ 
vatc minds which are strangers to guilt ; nor is it 
15 



170 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

Strange that they should bring into their church 
those who are most guilty, in the full assurance 
that their guilt shall be forgiven, and their crimes 
effaced from the records of heaven, by only con- 
fessing them to one of their priests. 

Will the heads of those respectable families, to 
whom Bishop Fenwick alludes, and from whom he 
is making so many converts, permit me to aslc 
them, whether they have ever reflected upon what 
they were doing, in permitting Romish priests to 
come among them ? I have myself been a Cath- 
olic priest, as I have more than once stated ; I am 
without any prejudice whatever. If I know myself, 
I would do an injustice to no man ; but I hesitate 
not to tell those heads of families, whether they 
are the parents or guardians of those converts to 
the Romish church, of whom mention is made, 
that if they have not used all their authority with 
which the laws of nature and of the land invests 
them, to prevent these conversions, they are highly 
culpable. If they are parents, they have become 
the moral assassins of their own children, and per- 
haps their own wives. Do any of those fathers 
know the questions which a Romish priest puts to 
those children, at confession ? Do husbands know 
the questions which priests put to their wives, at 
confession ? Though a married man, I would blush 
to mention the least of them. 

Though not so fastidious as others, I cannot even 
think of them, much less name them, without a 
downcast eye and crimsoned cheek, and particularly 
those which are put to young and unmarried ladies. 

Fathers, mothers, guardians, and husbands of 
these converts, fancy to yourselves the most indeli- 
cate, immodest, and libidinous questions which the 
most immoral and profligate mind can conceive — 



' AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 171 

fancy those ideas put into plain English, and that 
by way of question and answer — and you will 
then have a faint conception of the conversation 
which takes place between a pampered Romish 
priest and your hitherto pure-minded daughters. 
If, after two or three of these examinations, in that 
sacred tribunal, they still continue virtuous, they 
are rare exceptions. After an experience of some 
years in that church, sooner — far sooner — would 
I see my daughters consigned to the grave, than 
see them go* to confession to a Romish priest or 
bishop. One is not a whit better than the other. 
They mutually confess to each other. 

It was not my intention, when I commenced this 
work, to enter into any thing like a discussion of 
the doctrines maintained by the Romish church. 
My sole object was to call the attention of Ameri- 
can Republicans to the dangers which were to be 
apprehended, and would inevitably follow, from 
the encouragement which they are giving to Popery 
amongst them. I have, however, deviated a little 
from my first intention, in more than one in- 
stance ; but I trust, not without some advantage 
to many of my readers. I am aware that I have 
exposed myself to the charge of carelessness and 
indifference to public opinion, in not paying more 
attention to the construction and order of my sen- 
tences. Did I write for fame, or the applause of 
this world, I would have been more careful; but, 
as my object is only to state facts, in language so 
plain that none can misunderstand it, I have no 
doubt the reader will pardon any defects which 
he may find in the language, or want of consecu- 
tiveness in the statements, which these pages 
contain. 

I will now ask the attention of the reader, for a 



172 

few moments, to the Popish doctrine of Indulgen-^ 
ces ; and I do so because priests and bishops deny 
that such things as indulgences are now either 
taught or granted to Catholics. They say from 
their pulpits and altars that indulgences are neither 
bought nor sold by Catholics, and never were.. 

It is an axiom in our courts of law — and should 
be one in every well-regulated court of conscience 
— that falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus. The 
meaning of this axiom is, that he who tells a false- 
hood in one case will do so in every other. If this 
be true — and it is as true as that two and two make 
four — I pronounce all Roman Catholic priests, 
bishops. Popes, monks, friars, and nuns, to be the 
most deliberate and wilful set of liars that ever in- 
fested this or any other country, or disgraced the 
name of religion. I assert, and defy contradic- 
tion, that there is not a Roman Catholic church, 
chapel, or house of worship in any Catholic coun- 
try, where indulgences are not sold. I will even 
go further, and say, that there is not a Roman Cath- 
olic priest in the United States, who has denied the 
fact, that does not sell indulgences himself; and 
yet these priests, and these bishops — these men of 
sin, falsehood, impiety, impurity, and immorality — 
talk of morals^ and preach morals, while in their 
sleeves, and in their practices, they laugh at such 
ideas as moral obligations. Here I would appeal 
even to Irish Catholics who are in this country. I 
would ask all, or any of them, if ever they have 
heard mass in any Catholic chapel in Dublin, or any 
other city in Ireland, without hearing published 
from the altar, a notice in the following words, or 
words of similar import. 

^' Take notice, that there 7oill be an indulgence 
on day, in ^ church. Confessions ivill 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 173 

be heard on — — ^ day^ to prepare those who wish to 
partake of the indulgence^ I have published 
hundreds of such notices myself; and any Ameri- 
can, who may visit Ireland, or any Catholic 
country, and has the curiosity to enter any of 
the Romish chapels, can hear these notices read ; 
but when he returns to the United States, he 
will hear the Roman priests say that '^ there are 
no indulgences sold by the Romish Church." 
Beware, Americans ! How long will you be the 
dupes of Popish priests ? 

Will the reader permit me to take him back a 
few years, and show him in what light indulgences 
were viewed in the 16th century, under the imme- 
diate eye of the Pope and full sanction of the iiifal- 
lible church! 

The name Tetzel, is familiar to every reader. He 
was an authorized agent for the sale af indulgences. 
I will give you one of his speeches, as recorded on 
the authority of Roman Catholic writers, and re- 
cently published in this country in D'Aubigne's 
History of the Reformation. 

Indulgences — says this reverend delegate of the 
Pope — are the most precious and sublime of God^s 
gifts. 

Draw near^ and I loill give you letters duly 
sealed^ by which even the sins you shall hereafter 
desire to commit shall be all forgiven you, 

I loould not exchange my privileges for those of 
St. Peter in heaven ; for I have saved more souls 
by my indulgences^ than he by his sermons. 

There is no sin so great^ that the ijidulgence can- 
not remit it, and even if any one should — ichich is 
impossible — ravish the holy Mother of God, let 
him pay, let him only pay largely, and it shall 
be forgiven him. The very moment the money 
15 * 



174 SYNOPSIS OF POPEHYj 

goes into the Pope's box, thai moment even the con- 
demned soul of the sinner flies to heaven. 

Examine the history of Paganism, and you will 
not find in its darkest pages any thing more infa- 
mously blasphemous than the above extract, taken 
from a speech delivered by one of the Pope's auc- 
tioneers for the sale of indulgences. But even this 
would be almost pardonable, if priests did not 
try to persuade Americans that those sales have long 
since ceased. 

It is not more than twelve months since I was in 
the city of Principe, Cuba ; and I beg permission 
to relate to my readers what I have there personally 
witnessed ; or, as we would express it in our most 
homely language, seen with my own eyes. 

A-t an early hour in the morning, I was aroused 
from my slumbers by a simultaneous ringing of all 
the bells in the city. On looking out, I witnessed 
the marching of troops, firing of cannons, field-of- 
ficers in their full uniforms, all the city authorities 
wearing their official robes, with innumerable priests 
and friars bustling about from one end of the city 
to the other. My first impression was, that a de- 
structive fire must have broken out somewhere, or 
that some frightful insurrection had taken place ; 
but, on inquiry, what think you, reader, caused 
this simultaneous movement of the whole popula- 
tion of Principe, amounting in all to about sixty 
thousand ? "• Tell it not in Gath ; publish it not in 
the streets of Askelon." A huge bull of indulgences 
had arrived from the Pope of Rome, and they 
turned out — troops and all — to pay it due hom- 
age^ and hear it read in the cathedral of Principe. 

A day was appointed for the sale of the indul- 
gences contained in the aforesaid bull ! Accompa- 
nied by a Scotch gentleman, with whom I had the 
pleasure of forming an acquaintance, we went, with 



4lr 
/ AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS 175 

others, to the house of the spiritual auctioneer^ and 
I there purchased of the priest, for two dollars and 
fifty cents, an indulgence for any sin I might com- 
mit, except four, which I will not mention. These, 
I was told, could only be forgiven by the Pope, and 
would cost me a considerable sum of money. 

Many of our citizens are in the habit of visiting 
Havana, and can purchase those indulgences at 
any sum from twelve and a half cents to five hun- 
dred dollars. Will you still listen to Popish priests, 
who tell you that indulgences are neither sold nor 
bought now in the Romish church ? 

From Cuba I immediately proceeded in the Uni- 
ted States' ship Vandalia, to Vera Cruz, and from 
thence to the city of Mexico. I felt desirous of as- 
certaining the state of Popery in that exclusively 
Popish country, and availed myself of every oppor- 
tunity to do so. Accordingly, soon after my arrival 
in Mexico, I strolled into the cathedral^ and saw in 
the centre aisle a large table, about forty feet long 
and four wide, covered with papers, resembling, at 
a distance, some of our bank checks. Curiositj^ in- 
duced me to examine them, and, instead of bank 
checks, I found checks on Heaven ; or, in other 
words, indulgences for sins of all descriptions. 

1 resolved upon purchasing ; but, knowing 
full well that Americans, t?iough the most intel- 
ligent people in the world^ but long the dupes of 
Roman Catholics, would scarcely believe me if I 
told them that I bought an indulgence in Mexico. I 
went back and requested of our consul there, Mr. 
Black, to come with me to the cathedral and witness 
the purchase of, and payment by me for an indul- 
gence. Will Catholic priests tell you there is no 
truth in this? If they do, be not hasty in making 
up your minds on the question. There are two or 



176 SYNOPSIS OF POPERYj 

three lines of packets running from New York to 
Vera Cruz, and you can easily ascertain, from Mr. 
Black, whether I am telling truth, or whether Pa- 
pists are humbugging you, as they have been for 
the last half century. ' 

But why go abroad for evidence to fix upon Ro- 
mish priests the indellible stigma of falsehood on the 
subject of indulgences? I- have sold them myself^ 
in Philadelphia and in Europe! The first year I 
officiated in Philadelphia as a Roman Catholic priest, 
I sold nearly three thousand of these indulgences, 
as the agent of holi/ mother, the irifallible church ; 
and though several years have elapsed since, many 
of those who bought them are still living in thai 
city. 

Some explanation is necessary here, as I cannot 
presume that Americans are yet acquainted with a 
doctrine called Pious Frauds, held and acted upon 
by the infalUMe church. 

The Pope of Rome and the Propaganda, taking 
into-considemtion the sava:i;e iscnorance of Ameri- 
cans, deemed it prudent to substitute some other 
name for the usual name indulgences^ and some- 
thing else for ihe us-ual document specifying the na- 
ture of the indulgence which was given to pious 
snnners in '^ the New World : " they thought it j905- 
sible that Yankees m^ight have the curiosity to read 
the loritteii iudulgenc-es. This, said they in their 
wisdom, must be prevented ; and here is a ease 
where our doctrine of pious frauds comes beauti- 
fully into play. After singing the ''Ve?ii Creato?; 
spiritus^^ — as usual in such cases — they resolved 
that indulgences should be in future called Scapu- 
las, and thus piously enable all Roman Catholic 
priests and bishops to ^loear on the Holy Evange- 
lists that no indulgences were ever said iti the 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 177 

United States, This is what holy mother calls 
pious fraud. 

All the indulgences which I sold in Philadelphia 
were called scapulas. They are made of small 
pieces of cloth, with the letters I. H. S. written 
on the outside, and are worn on the breast. I 
will give you an idea of the revenue arising from 
the sale of those scapulas in the United States, by 
stating to you the price at which I sold them. 

The scapula costs the purchaser one dollar. The 
priest who sells it tells him that to make it thor- 
oughly efficacious, it is necessary that he should 
cause some masses to be said, and the poor dupe 
gives one, five, ten, or twenty dollars, according to 
his or her means, for those masses. I may safely 
say, that, on an average, every scapula or indul- 
gence sold in the United States costs at least five 
dollars. What think you now of the word, the 
honor, or the oath of a Popish priest ? Are you 
not ashamed to be so long their dupes ? Do you 
not blush at the reflection, that you have given so 
much of your money, your sympathy, and hospital- 
ity, to such arrant knaves ? Sad is the reflection 
to me, and dark are the thoughts, that I should have 
ever belonged to a church, which imbodies in its 
doctrines all that is degrading to humanity, and re- 
duces man, from being 'kittle lower than the an- 
gels," to a thing, such as a Papist priest, in full com- 
munion with the Pope, having nothing in common 
with his fellow-beings but the form of humanity. 

You, Americans, who have thoughtlessly united 
yourselves with these priests in their church, come 
out, 1 beseech you, from among them. Entail not 
upon your children the curse of Popery. Flee 
from them as Lot did from Sodom. To err is the 
lot of man. To fall and to trip in his passage 



178 

through life, is the lot of even the best of men. 
You have erred in joining the Romish church, 
but you will doubly err by continuing in member- 
ship with her. The country which gave you 
birth is a glorious one ; it has all the advantages of 
nature; it is fertilized by salubrious seas, and its 
own beautiful lakes. There is nothing you want 
which the God pf nature has not given^ and blessed 
for your use. There is but one dark speck upon the 
horizon of your national prosperity and greatness, 
but that is a deep one. It is a sad one, and may 
be a bloody one. Popery hovers over it, like some 
ill-omened bird, waiting only a favorable opportunity 
to pounce upon its prey ; or some foul exhalation, 
which, being checked in its soaring, turns to a fog, 
causing darkness and scattering disease, wherever 
it falls. Alas, fellow-citizens, it has already fallen 
amongst us, and is growing with fearful rapidity ; 
like the more noxious weed, it loves a rich soil ; it 
cannot fail to flourish in ours. 

Take heed, Americans, lest you allow this weed 
to come to maturity. Eradicate it in time ; let it 
not ripen amongst you ; allow not its capsule to fill, 
blossom, and ripen; if you do, mark what I tell 
you : it will burst, scattering its noxious, sickening, 
and poisonous odors amid the pure breezes of that 
religious and political freedom, which have so long, 
so gracefully and sweetly played over this beloved 
'^land of the free and home of the brave." 

If you will look around you, and visit our cotlrts 
of law ; if you extend your visits to your prisons, 
your houses of industry and reformation ; if you 
go farther, and examine your penitentiaries, what 
will you find ? Permit me to show you what you 
will behold in one single city, the city of New 
York. This, of itself, were there no other cause 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 179 

of alarm, should be sufficient to arouse your patriot- 
ism, for you must not forget that nearly all the for- 
eigners, enumerated in the document which I here 
subjoin, are Roman Catholics, or reduced to their 
present condition while living in Catholic countries. 
But let the document speak for itself. It is official, 
and may be relied on. It came from a committee 
of the Board of Aldermen of the city of New York 
upon the subject of alien passengers. Taking this 
as your data, you may be able to form some idea 
of what you suffer in money, in virtue, and iu 
your morals, from the introduction of foreign Pa- 
pists among you. 

'' The Foreign Poor in our Alms-Houses, 
AND THE Foreign Criminals in our Penitentia- 
ries. — We hasten to lay before our readers a high- 
ly interesting document, from a committee in the 
Board of Aldermen, upon the subject of bonding 
alien passengers in New York. From the docu- 
ment, it appears that the bonds of nine firms in this 
city exhibit the enormous liabilities of ^16,000,000 ; 
that of the 602 children supported by the city, at 
the Farm Schools, 457 are the children (many, if 
not the most of them, illegitimate) of foreign pa- 
rents ; that of the latest-born infants at nurse, at 
the city's expense, 32 are foreign, and only two 
American, and ' that of the whole number of chil- 
dren, 626 have foreign parentage, and 195 Amer- 
can ; exhibiting ttie average of more than three for- 
eigners to one native, and an alarming increase of 
the ratio of foreigners in the more recent births.' 

/^ The whole number of inmates in our peniten- 
tiary is 1419, showing an increase of 400 since July 
last ; of these 333 are Americans, and 1198 foreign- 
ers. The number of prisoners and paupers, to sup- 
port whom we all pay taxes, is 4344, showing an 
increase, since July lastj of nearly 1000. 



180 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

^'In view of these alarming facts, and remember- 
ing that over 60,000 immigrants were commuted 
and bonded here the last year, the committee make 
some forcible appeals to the country, which cannot 
be without their effect. The enormous taxation to 
which we are subject, in order to support foreign 
paupers and criminals, is a gveat and growing evil, 
which presses heavily upon industry, as well as 
iipon the character, morals, and politics of the 
country/' 

This is a frightful picture of things, especially in a 
country abounding and almo&t overflowing with the 
means of sustaining and abundantly supplying fifty 
times the population it contains. 

Examine well the results of Popery, in a reli- 
gious, moral, and political point of view, especially 
duriiig the last thirty years, and you will find that 
there is no vice, no crime, no folly or absurdity, 
which time has brought inlo the old world, as Mil- 
ton expresses it, '' in its huge drag-net,'^ that Pa- 
pists are not introducing among you ; and there is 
no consequence which followed it there which we 
shall not see here, unless you are to a man •' up and 
doing," until this noxious weed is rooted from 
amongst you. I wish these unfortunate Papists no 
evil ; far be such a sentiment from my mind. I 
would be their best friend; but who can befriend 
them, while they permit themselves to be con- 
trolled and deluded by tiieir priests. 
.^ i^Roman Catholic priest is, joro tanto, the \w3rst 
enemy of man. He degrades his mind by render- 
ing him the slave of his church. He debauches 
his morals, and those of his wife and children, by 
withholding from them the word of God. He 
weakens his understanding, by filling his mind 
with absurd traditions. He evokes, and indirectly 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 181 

invites, the indulgence of his worst passions, by 
promising him the pardon of his sins. He checks 
the noblest aspirations and finest charities of his 
soul, by instilling into it the rankest hatred and 
animosity towards his fellow-being, whom God has 
commanded him to love as he loves himself, but 
whom the priest tells him to curse, hate, and ex- 
terminate. In a word, he almost degrades him to a 
level with the beast, by teaching him to lower that 
holy flag, on which should be written, Glory be to 
God on high^ — and raising above it the blood- 
stained flag of Popery. 

This, American Protestants know full well. They 
feel it. It is known and felt in every Protestant 
land ; but it seems as -'if some strange spirit was 
passing over people's dreams." Though found to 
be unsound, and even bad policy ; though destruc- 
tive to agricultural, commercial, and every other in- 
terest, yet we see no eflTorts made to arrest its ad- 
vance amongst us. Neither are there any means 
taken, as far as the writer knov/s, in other Protestant 
countries, to suppress this religious, political, and 
connnercial nuisance ; on the contrary, we find that 
even in Great Britain further stimulants are being 
applied to Popish insolence. 

Sir Robert Peel, the premier of England, has, or 
is about introducing a bill into parliament, with a 
view of making further appropriations for the Ro- 
mish college of Maynooth, in Ireland; and, much 
to my surprise, as well I believe as to that of every 
man who correctly understands the spirit of Popery, 
he has some supporters. Even some of the British 
reviewers give him high praise. 

^' The credit to which Sir Robert Peel is enti- 
tled," says one of the British Quarterlies, '^ is greatly 
increased by reason of the prejudices of some of his 
supporters; but (contiiiues the same Quarterly) his 
16 



182 

resolution is taken and his declaration made." 
This should read, in my humble apprehension,, 
his resolution is taken^and his infatuation complete, 

I have been a student in that college ; I kno\v^ 
what is taught and done in that institution. I am 
well acquainted with all the minutiae- of its business, 
and theological transactions ; and I could tell Sir 
Robert Peel that he either knows imt what he is- 
doing, or is a traitor to his government! Does Sir 
Robert know that in that college are concocted 
all the plans and all the measures which O'Comiell 
is proposing, and has been pursuing during the last 
thirty years, for emancipation, and now for the repeal 
of the Union ? Does be know that Maynooth is the 
focus from which radiate all the treasons, assassina- 
tions, and murders of Protestani&, in Ireland ? Is he 
aware that this very Maynooth is the great Popish 
eccaleobion, in which most of those priests who 
infest Ireland, and are now infesting the United 
States, are hatched? Does he know that Daniel 
O'Connell and that college are the mutual tools of 
each other? O'Oonnell, riding on the backs of 
the priests into power and into wealth, and they 
alternately mounted upon Dan, advancing the glori/ 
of the iv fallible church / 

It is not probably known to Mr. Peel that thirty 
years or more have elapsed since it was ^ecretlif 
resolved in Maynooth that Timie biit a Catholic 
should wear the British crown ^ and that he should 
receive it as a fief from the Pope of Rome. Every 
move and advance which O'Connell makes in re- 
peal is a step gained towards this object, and upon 
this his ambitious eye rests with intense avarice. 
For this, Maynooth and its priests thirst with insa- 
tiable desire. It is not many years since O'Connell 
and Maynooth. asked for emancipation^ and they 
obtained it. Protestants of England were duped 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 183 

into the belief that Papists would now be satisfied, 
and unite in supporting the government ; but, 
scarcely was this granted, when the great agitator, 
with the advice and co?isent of Maynooth^ asked 
for — what, think you, reader ? Nothing less than a 
dismemberment of the British government — noth- 
ing less than a repeal of the Union ; or, in other 
words, to permit one of the most turbulent dema- 
gogues that ever lived, Daniel O'Connell, to become 
king of Ireland, and to receive his crown from the 
Pope of Rome. 

This is now the avoived object of repeal ; but there 
is another object, not yet seen nor dreamed of by those 
who are not Roman Catholics ; and I beg the reader 
to keep it in his recollection. It is this. O'Connell, 
by agitating Ireland, and scattering firebrands 
throughout England, believes that he and the Cath- 
olics will ultimately succeed in dethroning the 
sovereign of England, and placing the crown on 
some Popish head. Were the college of Maynooth 
further endowed through the efforts or folly of Sir 
Robert Peel, does he believe, or can any man, ac- 
quainted with the genius of Popery believe, that this 
would satisfy O'Connell or the Pope's agents in Ire- 
land ? The very reverse would be the case. It would 
only imbolden them still further. It would only 
increase their insolence ; it would only add a new 
impetus to their treasonable demands, and give an in- 
creased momentum to their disorganizing meetings. 

Should the British Government grant all O'Con- 
nell asks, or should parliament pass a bill for the re- 
peal of the Union, is it to be supposed that O'Con- 
nell and the Irish bishops — the sworn allies of 
the king of Rome — would be satisfied ? Not 
they. The truth is — and I wish I could im- 
press it upon the minds of every Protestant in Eng- 



184 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY. 

land as well as in this country — nothing short of 
the total overthroiD of the government of Great 
Britain and the Protestant religion will content the 
Popish church, whose cats-paw Daniel O'Conneil 
is. Should Providence, in his inscrutable designs, 
grant them this, our experiment in the science of 
self-government is at an end. We shall become an 
easy prey to any alliance which should be formed 
against our republican institutions. The jackals of 
Popery are amongst us : they have discovered us j 
and Popish priests, the natural enemies of free in- 
stitutions and of the Protestant religion, will soon 
destroy our republic and our religion. 

It is useless to deny the fact. It cannot be de- 
nied. It were folly to conceal it. The extirpation 
of heresy, or, in other words, of the Protestant re- 
ligion, is the grand object which O'Conneil and the 
Pope have now in view ; and, to effect this, they 
have judiciously divided and advantageously posted 
all their forces. These forces are well officered by 
Jesuits and priests, men without honor, principle, or 
religion ; whose time is spent in advancing Popery 
and the grossest indulgence of their own pas- 
sions. The Pope and O'Conneil have, in this coun- 
try, an army of nearly two millions of reckless des- 
peradoes, who have given already strong evidences 
of their thirst for American Protestant blood. It is 
necessary to watch them well. Americans must 
recollect that these men receive their orders from 
Rome, through O'Conneil, who, I sincerely be- 
lieve, is this moment the worst man living, though 
the Pope calls him the greatest layman living. He 
is upon earth what the pirate is upon the seas, m- 
imicus huniani generis — the enemy of mankind. 
During the last thirty years he has kept the poor of 
Ireland in a state of poverty and excitement bor- 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 185 

dering upon madness. He has filched from them 
the last farthing they possessed. He has withdrawn 
them by thousands from their ordinary pursuits of 
industry : he has sown amongst them mutual hatred 
and a general discontent with their situations in life. 
But that is not all. He has pursued the poor people 
even to this country. He robs them here of their lit- 
tle earnings. They make remittances to him of 
hundreds and thousands of dollars; and this, while 
many of them, to my own knowledge, and not a 
hundred yards from where I write, are shivering in 
the cold blasts of wrinter, — all /or their good, ^ while 
O'Connell himself is feasting in Ireland, and enjoy- 
ing the sports of the chase, on about three hundred 
thousand dollars a year. 

This is not all. The great agitator, this na- 
tional beggar, Daniel O'Connell, has recently dis- 
covered that there were some little glimmerings of 
Protestantism in France; that Louis Phillippe was 
neither a Don Miguel, a Ferdinand, nor a very 
strong advocate of Popery, opens upon him a bat- 
tery of abuse. This foul-mouthed brawler was 
not content with sowing discord among the poor 
Irish, and scattering treason among the people of 
Great Britain, he tries what he can do with the 
inflammable people of France, who are now in the 
enjoyment of more domestic happiness and national 
glory than they have had for the last century. 
But eveii this is not enough ; the genius of the 
great national beggar, fertile in schemes, treasons, 
rebellions, scurrillity, and Popery, must cross the 
Atlantic and denounce Americans, who, since the 
declaration of their independence, have been the 
best and warmest friends of his poor countrymen ; 
they have received them, employed them, giving 
them bread and clothing in abundance. They 
16* 



186 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

permitted them to bring with them their priests 
and their reUgion ; they shielded and protected 
them in their lives and liberties. This country- 
was to the Irish, a land flowing with milk and 
honey, and they might have enjoyed it, and been 
happy, had it not been for their accursed religion 
and its priests. 

The great Dan saw and felt this. A stop must 
be put to it. The holy church saw that this state 
of things, would not answer her purposes. The 
harmony, which existed for so long a time between 
the hospitable and generous Americans and the for- 
lorn Irish, must be broken, lest Papists should be- 
come Protestants and forget their allegiance to the 
Pope ; and accordingly, the great agitator, this 
enemy to order, to God, and to peace, commenced 
denouncing Americans, as usurers and infidels^ 
who had not even a national law of their own. 
He calls upon the Irish to come out from among 
them, and have nothing to do v^^ith them. 

Soon after this, the Pope sends over some bulls, 
making similar demands upon the Irish and all other 
Catholics, under pain of excommunication ; and 
what is the result? The name of an Irishman is 
now a by-word, in the United States, especially 
if he is a Roman Catholic. It is associated with 
every thing that is low, vulgar, and bigoted. No 
longer do the Americans receive the Irish with 
open arms : no longer do they welcome them to 
their shores ; nor in fact is it safe for them longer 
to do so. And w^hat occasioned this ? That dem- 
agogue, O'Connell, and the Pope of Rome. 

Does Mr. Peel reflect, when he is moving in 
parliament for an additional appropriation for the 
college of Maynooth, in Ireland, that he is only 
adding fuel to the political fire, which these men 
axe trying to enkindle, and have actually enkindled 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 187 

in a great part of Europe, and in the United States? 
Has the fact escaped his notice, that the Pope and 
the GREATEST LAYMAN Uving, as his royal holiness 
calls O'Conneil, have no misunderstanding with 
Spain, Portugal, or any other government, strictly 
Popish ? 

They have no feeling of compassion for the de- 
graded Italian, the ignorant and half-starved Span- 
iard or Portuguese, or the wretched Mexican slave. 
O, no ! It is only for a Papist under a Protestant 
government, that their compassion is moved. Their 
condition must be ameliorated^ or in plain English, 
these governments must be overthrown and Popery 
must reign supreme. Let Mr. Peel reflect upon this 
single fact, and he and his supporters cannot fail 
to see, that, in giving further aid to the Popish col- 
lege of Maynooth, he is but ''sowing dragons' 
teeth, from which armed men will spring up." He 
is only throwing an additional force into that Tro- 
jan horse, which his predecessors had introduced 
into unfortunate Ireland, and which Popes and 
priests have secretly stolen into these United States. 

I know O'Connell well. I have had, in my 
younger days, some personal acquaintance with him ; 
and I can tell Mr. Peel, that with the college of 
Maynooth to back him, he, — Mr. Peel and his 
party — are no match for him in craft and intrigue. 
All O'Conneirs -plans for the extirpation of Prot- 
estanism are devised in Rome. They are submit- 
ted to the Propaganda^ and from thence sent to 
Maynooth to be there revised and corrected. As 
soon as this is done, a copy is forwarded to each of 
the metropolitan bishops of Ireland, who return it 
with such observations as they deem necessary, 
and all things being prepared, secundum ordinem>, 
the usual Veni, Creator, is sung ; the project, what- 



188 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

ever it may be, is sanctioned ; every priest in Ireland 
is prepared to carry it into effect ; and all that now 
remains to be done is, to give the great beggar his 
secret orders. What can Peel, or his few supporters, 
do against such a party as this ? Nothing, unless 
the government changes its mode of proceeding 
against O'Connell, Maynooth, and the Irish bishops. 
But it is to be feared, that this will not be done 
while Peel is at the head of affairs. 

England, once indomitable, and always brave ; 
England, proud of her religion and of her laws, 
seems recently to forget her ancient glories. She 
is showing the white feather : she is dallying with 
Popery, and singing lullabies to quiet and put 
asleep Daniel O'Connell and his Irish bishops, whose 
treason and political treachery can only be stopped, 
and should have been stopped long since, by con- 
signing the greatest layman that ever lived, and a 
few of his right reverend advisers, to transportation 
for life. 

Americans may think this wrong, but though I 
have not the least pretension to the faculty of pro- 
phesying, I think I can safely tell them, that, in 
less than twenty years, they will have to enact 
much severer laws against Roman Catholics than 
any which are now recorded against them on the 
statute book of Great Britain. It must be borne in 
mind, that Popery never bends, and therefore it 
should and must be broken. It was in this college 
of Maynooth, and from those bishops and priests, 
with whom Sir Robert Peel is dallying, I first 
learned that the king of England w^as an usurper. 
It was they, who first taught me that the Pope of 
Rome — virtute clavorum, by virtue of tlie keys — 
was the rightful sovereign of England, as well as 
of all the kingdoms of the earth. It was in the 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 189 

college of Maynooth, I was taught to keep no faith 
with heretics^ and that it was my solemn duty to 
exterminate them ; it was there I first learned, that 
any oath of allegiance, which I may take to a, Prot- 
estant government, was null and void, and need 
not be kept. 

It was at this same college of Maynooth, that 
nine tenths of the priests in this country received 
their education ; and is it not deplorable to re- 
flect, that such men as Sir Roberi Peel, in Eng- 
land, and several equally distinguished in this coun- 
try, should be so entirely blindfolded and unmindful 
of the interest of their respective countries, as to 
give any countenance, aid, or support to Popery, or 
Popish institutions among them ? I trust, however, 
and fondly hope, that this imprudent, impolitic, 
and ill-advised scheme of Sir Robert PeePs, will be 
resisted and thrown out of parliament, with such 
marks of disapprobation as becomes every honest 
Protestant and true Briton. Will those who 
sympathize with Popery in the United States, 
look back to the page of history ? and if they will 
not iake instruction from me, let them take it from 
the past. Let them listen to the voice of the dead, 
and learn a lesson from them. Let them read the 
history of France. Who urged on all the opposi- 
tions that have been made, from time to time, to 
the government and constituted authorities of that 
country ? What were the causes, remote or im- 
mediate, of all the blood that has been shed in 
France for centuries back ? The Pope of Rome 
and his agents. 

It is truly to be lamented, that Napoleon liad not 
lived longer ; he might, it is true, have caused some 
disturbance, and hastened the fall of some of the 
tottering thrones of Europe. Spain, Italy, Portugal, 



190 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

and even Austria and Prussia, might have ceased 
to have kings, by divine right; but a far better 
order of things could not fail soon to have arisen. 
The Pope would have been hurled from his throne ; 
Napoleon would have stripped from him the trap- 
pings of royalty ; he would have taught him to feel, 
and reduce to practice the heavenly declaration of his 
Divine Master, which his holiness now repeats in sol- 
emn mockery, j^egiium meum non est de hoc niundo. 
He would have confined him to his legitimate duty, 
in place of spending his time in dictating political 
despatches to foreign powers, and sending bulls of 
excommunication which are now become laughing- 
stocks to all intelligent men ; he might be devoted 
to the advancement of true Christianity, and the' 
world saved from those contentions and disturb- 
ances, occasioned by this man of sin and his 
agents. 

Why will not our statesmen reflect upon these 
things, lest in some future contest with the powers 
of Europe the scales of victory may be turned 
against them by this man of sin, whose agents in 
this country, as I have heretofore remarked, amount 
to nearly two millions. The defeat or subversion 
of the government of Great Britain, by Popish 
power, is equivalent to a victory gained by it over 
the United States. I tell the Protestants of Eng- 
land and of the United States, that their respective 
governments are doomed to fall, if Popery gains 
the ascendency over either ; and all those who try to 
foment or urge any difficulties between them, are 
not the friends of either, but the enemies of both. 
It is only by the combined eff*orts of Protestants, 
all over the world, that Popery can be crushed, and 
peace, and religion, and fraternal love, restored to 
mankind. 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 191 

I have produced some facts that admit of no de- 
nial^ and I put the question, confidently, to every 
honest and sensible Protestant in England or Amer- 
ica, who is un warped by prejudice or interest, 
whether the cause of liberty is not in danger, and 
likely to decline, if we any longer submit to or 
acquiesce in the doctrines of Popery ! And I ask 
every reflecting American in particular, whether 
the influence which Popery has now in this country, 
is not likely to create anarchy, or even despotism 
amongst us, though we may preserve the forms of 
a free constitution ! 

I have alluded to the struggles in England with 
Popery ; I have mentioned the name of that dema- 
gogue, O'Connell, because he is the agent of the 
Pope for both countries, and because I believe it is 
the mutual interest of the two to unite, and stand 
shoulder to shoulder in opposition to Popish in- 
trigues, evolved in the proceedings of this selfish 
and dangerous man, O'Connell. The designs of 
O'Oonnell and the Irish bishops, and those of the 
Pope and his Jesuit agents in the United States, 
are proved upon testimony which admits of no de- 
nial, viz : their own admissions. O'Connell, the 
mouthpiece of Popery in Ireland, avows publicly 
that Protestant England shall not govern Irish Pa- 
pists, and the Pope's agents in the United States 
declare and swear, that Americans shall not ride 
them. How are the English and Americans to treat 
this common enemy ? Let them go into the ene- 
my's armory, divest themselves of their mawkish 
sympathy, buckle on the very armor which their 
enemy wears, and adopt the mode of warfare used 
by them. Give the common enemy no quarters, 
assail, them from every point, and the subjects of 
his holiness the Pope, either in Great Britain or the 



192 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

United States, will not long remain insensible to 
the miseries, into which the great national rent beg- 
gar has plunged them. This, however, I find 
cannot be easily done in the United States. The 
difficulty with our people is this, they would find 
it much easier to assume the armor used by the 
common enemy, than to lay down that of sympa- 
thy and hospitality, which they have heretofore 
worn, and thus, although a moral and religious 
people, their zeal is but dim and sluggish, while 
that of their adversaries, the Pope and his agents, 
burns higher and clearer every day. This must 
not be. God and freedom forbid it. 

The political contest, which has just ended, has 
tended greatly, at least for the moment, to im- 
bolden and encourage Popery. Each party courted 
the Papists, and they supported him from whom 
they expected most favors. They laid their meshes, 
nets, and traps for President Polk ; but I believe 
they have been '^caught in their own traps.^^ That 
gentleman is said to be a moral and religious man, 
and one of the last in the world to countenance idola- 
try, blasphemy, or treason amongst us. But now that 
the contest is over, and no further avowal of distinct 
party principles is necessary or profitable, it is to be 
hoped that the good and virtuous of both parties 
will unite in passing such laws, as will shield our 
country and our people from any further Popish in- 
terference with our government or our institutions. 
He, w^ho shall bring about this desirable result, 
and those who aid him, will merit the gratitude of 
their country. 

In the present position of parties, much is ex- 
pected from the great '^ American Republican " asso- 
ciation, which has recently been formed throughout 
the United States. Every eye is fixed upon its 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 193 

movemeiitSj and the hopes of all Protestants hang 
upon its success. Do not disappoint us, American 
Republicans. You alone can save the Protestant 
foreiguer from the persecutions of Popery, and we 
call upon you, by the memory of your sires, to shield 
us from it. 

You have a great part to act ; you are young ; but 
the purity of your principles, and the justice of your 
cause, abundantly supply what is wanting in age. 
You are the mediators between two great politi- 
cal parties, whose extremes cannot meet, or if they 
did, would only tend to render their respective 
centres still more corrupt, by their internal powers 
of contamination. Neither of those parties will 
ever consent to be governed by the other; nor has 
either of them the moral courage to come forth boldly 
and say to Popery^ Stand off, thou unclean thing. 
Thou hast polluted all Europe for ages past ; stand 
aloof from us ; wash thy polluted hands and blood- 
stained garments ; until then, thou art unfit to en- 
ter the temple of our liberties. Thou art, in thy 
very nature, impure, and hast already diffused 
amongst us too much of thy deadly poison before we 
took the alarm. Like an iufected atmosphere, thou 
hast silently entered the abodes of moral health; 
thou hast penetrated the strong holds of our free- 
dom, without giving us any warning! Avaunt, 
thou SCARLET LADY OF BABYLON ! rcccdc to the Pon- 
tine marshes, whence thou earnest, and no longer 
infect the pure air of freedom ! The foul stains of 
thy corruption shall no longer be permitted to spot 
the pure and unsullied insignia of independence ! 

I am aware that the sympathizers with Popery 

will say that such language as the above is rather 

harsh. They will tell us it is cruel. They will 

assert, in their usual mawkish style, that it was 

17 



194 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY. 

never the intention of the framers of our constitu- 
tion to treat those who come amongst us with un- 
kindness. They themselves invited the oppressed 
of every land, creed, and people, to our shores. 
They extended the hand of friendship to all, with- 
out distinction of party, sect, or religion. So they 
did, and so do their descendants. Any and every 
man is welcome to this country. Whether he 
comes from the banks of the Euphrates, shores of 
the Ganges, or bogs of Ireland, he is sure to re- 
ceive from Americans a warm and hospitable recep- 
tion. His person, his liberty, cind his property, are 
protected; but there is a condition under which 
this reception is given, and w^ithout which it never 
should be granted. The recipient of all these fa- 
vors is required to yield obedience to the mild and 
equitable laws of the United States : forswearing 
at the same time, all allegiance to any other king, 
potentate, or power whatever. This condition, so 
just, so reasonable, and so politic, is generally 
complied with by all foreigners, who land in these 
United States, with the exception of Roman Cath- 
olics. All others come amongst us, and either re- 
fuse at once to become citizens, or honestly incor- 
porate themselves with us. The Papist alone re- 
fuses incorporation with Americans. He alone 
comes amongst us the avowed enemy of our insti- 
tutions, and the sworn subject of a foreign king, 
the Pope of Rome. Among all the foreigners who 
land upon the shores of this country, none but Pa- 
pists avow any hostility to its institutions. They 
alone would dare say, " Amei^icans sha'iiH rule ws." 
On them alone have Americans just cause to look 
as traitors to their government, and foes to their 
religion ; and they alone should be singled out as 
just objects of fear and jealousy. 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 195 

I have, in the preceding pages, traced the origin of 
the Papal temporal power to its proper source ; and 
endeavored to follow the coarse of its turbid and 
muddy stream, through many of its sinuosities and 
canonical — if I may use such a term — gyrations, 
down to the middle of the 16th century. 1 freely 
admit that I have made many '• short cuts^^^ and 
have been obhged to pass unnoticed several of its 
acute angles. Were I to proceed '^ pari passu ^^ 
with its course, taking all its bearings and accom- 
panying them with the necessary observations, it 
would require a volume at least ten times as large 
as that which I now respectfully present to the 
public. I shall, however, if Providence leaves me 
health, continue the subject of Popery as it was 
AND AS IT IS. I will dissect the Body Papal, so 
that every American, who honors me with the pe- 
rusal of my observations, will see its inmost struc- 
ture. I have studied its anatomy ; I understand 
all its minutiae ; and if any can view the skeleton 
without horror and shame for having so long con- 
tributed to feast and fatten the monster, it shall not 
be my fault. The performance of this operation 
will be, in every point of view, extremely unpleas- 
ant. Whichever way I look, the prospect must be 
disagreeable. Behind, I can only see an object 
in which I once felt an interest, and with which I 
was unfortunately connected : and before, nothing 
is to be seen but further persecutions and calum- 
nies. But, cost what it may, it shall not be said 
of me by friend or foe, that I have shrunk from 
the performance of a duty which I owe to the 
cause of morality, and to my adopted country. 

I have merely touched upon the persecuting and 
treacherous spirit of the Popish church. The profli- 
gacy of its priests are scarcely noticed by me as 
yet. Its idolatries and blasphemies are barely allu- 



196 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

ded to. Indulgences, miracles, and the iniquities 
committed in nunneries, are scarcely glanced at. 
The twilight view, which I have given of these 
subjects, is only intended for a better observation 
of them, under the full light of some mid-day sun. 

Before I conclude this volume, permit me to 
give you a brief view of Popery as it is at this 
very day on which I write. 1 have a double 
object in doing this. First, what I am about 
stating has perhaps escaped the notice of many 
of my fellow-citizens; and secondly, it will confirm 
one of the most serious charges which I have 
made against Papists ; and thirdly it will prove to 
a demonstration, that Roman Catholic priests and 
bishops, who surround us and live amongst us, are 
a set of barefaced liars, whose entire disregard for 
truth fits them for no other society than that of 
brigands and felons. 

The reader will bear in mind that Roman Cath- 
olics are the loudest advocates of religious freedom. 
He will also not forget that I have charged them 
with being its most inveterate enemies. The Pa- 
pists and myself are now fairly at issue. 

Either they are right and I am wrong, or vice 
versa, I have sustained my accusation against 
them by proofs derived from their own general coun- 
cils, and from their uniform practice for centuries 
back. Still, these Catholics will say and assert 
publicly, in their pulpits, and at their meetings, 
religious and political, that they were always and 
are now the advocates of religious toleration. Let 
the past for a moment be forgotten. I presume 
no one will question what the practices of the Rp- 
mish church have been in relation to religious 
toleration in former times. Let us rather see 
what it is now among our neighbors in Madeira ; 
and as all Roman Catholics are a ii7iit in faith and 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 197 

practice, we may judge from what we see m Ma- 
deira, of what may be seen, and if not seen, is felt, 
in the United States. I submit the following let- 
ter to my readers. . It is from one of the most re- 
spectable men in Madeira. 

^^ Religious Persecution in Madeira. We 
have just had a sort of miniature civil war. Dr. 
Rally, who has been converting the natives, is the 
original cause of it. He converted the woman 
they sentenced to death here not long since. 
Having been imprisoned for some time, the doctor 
was at last liberated, and resumed his habit of 
preaching to the people in his house ; and it was 
not generally known, until within a short time, 
that he had made several hundred converts. On 
ascertaining this fact, the Governor, Don Oliva de 
Correa, at the request of the priests of the estab- 
lished church, who feared that the people might 
throw off their allegiance to the Roman Catholic 
church, appointed a country police to prevent the 
Protestants from assembling together. On Sunday 
week, the converts of St. Antonia de Sierra, while 
engaged in prayer, were assailed by the police, who 
broke in the door, knocked down the person who 
was officiating in the service, broke the benches, 
and dispersed the people, except four or five whom 
they took prisoners, and then proceeded to town. 
After going two miles, the police were overtaken 
by the populace, armed with pitchforks, rusty mus- 
kets, hoes, &c. 

^' The police were overpowered, and after being 

ducked in the river by the mob, they were tied 

together by the hands and feet and left on the 

road ; the Protestants returning to the mountains 

with their rescued comrades. One of the police 

officers, who escaped from the mob, made his way 
17* 



198 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

to town and alarmed the government. Three hun- 
dred and fifty soldiers were immediately ordered 
out ; the police were released from their confine- 
ment on the road-side, and the army marched to 
the villages of the " Rallyites." The dwellings 
were fired indiscriminately ; several aged women, 
who could not fly to the mountains, were put to 
the torture, to make them reveal the places of con- 
cealment of the 'heretics.' 'I'he Catholic army 
then proceeded up the mountain to massacre the 
Protestants ; but in passing the foot of the hill they 
were assailed by the Protestants above, who threw 
down stones and rocks upon them, killing eight 
soldiers and wounded forty others severely. As 
soon as the troops could be gathered after their 
fright and alarm, they opened a deadly fire upon 
the Protestants, chasing them five miles over the 
country, taking eighty or ninety prisoners, and kill- 
ing and wounding several of the unfortunate 
wretches. 

'' The army marched their prisoners down to the 
sea-coast, to Machico, where they were put on 
board the Diana fifty gun frigate, and taken thence 
to Punchal. The vessel of war, Don Pedro, was 
left at anchor on Machico to awe the country, but 
another, the Vouga, which had been despatched 
to Lisbon with official accounts of the battle, ran 
aground and had to return for repairs. The Don 
Pedro will therefore go to Lisbon. The captives 
will be sent to Lisbon, I suppose for trial, some 
time next week. Dr. Rally, the cause of the dis- 
turbance, remains at his house unmolested, which 
is singular. I don't think they will let him be 
quiet long. The Ycrktown, American sloop-of-war, 
was here the other day. We have had a beautiful 
winter so far. About four hundred people have 
come here this year for the benefit of their healtii." 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS, 199 

The above letter was received in New York a 
few weeks ago, and needs no comment. If any Pa- 
pist doubts it, he can easily write to Madeira and 
ascertain its truth or falsehood. Until then he has 
no reason to be surprised if American Protestants 
shall refuse to hold any connection or communion 
with them. 

There is one feature in the letter to which I 
would call the attention of the reader. It shows 
not only the persecuting spirit of Popery, but the 
uniformity and consistency of their mode of opera- 
tion. Go back to the former persecutions of the 
Popish church against the followers of WicklifTe 
and the Huguenots. The Wicklifhtes had to fly to 
the mountains for shelter ; but they were hotly pur- 
sued and cut down by the swords of their fiendish 
persecutors. They were massacred and butchered, 
even in the fissures and caves of their native rocks 
and mountains. The Protestants in Madeira, only 
a few weeks ago, had to fly to the mountains from 
a bloodthirsty, Popish soldiery, headed by their 
priests and monks. There, at our very doors, and 
in a country with which we have treaties of friend- 
ship and alliance. American Protestants are butch- 
ered and slaughtered by Popish savages, under the 
mask of religion ; and when the news of this trans- 
action reached our own shores, what action has 
been taken upon the subject ? Was there any in- 
dignation meeting called ? Were there any resolu- 
tions passed ? Were there any ambassadors ap- 
pointed in New England or elsewhere to ascertain 
the cause of this bloody tragedy ? Did our govern- 
ment demand any explanation from the authorities 
at Madeira ? The writer is not aware of any. Our 
government is too much occupied with affairs of 
more importance, viz., Who shall be Secretary of 



200 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

Stafe^ wno shall be Secretary of War, &c. The 
interest of morality seems a matter of minor im- 
portance with the ^^ powers that be." The blood 
of our Protestant fellow-citizens, the cries of their 
widows and orphans cannot reach the eye or ear of 
our grave law-makers. The question with them 
seems, not what our country may become, by the 
treachery and persecutions of Popery, which are 
witnessed along the whole line and circnmference 
of our own coast — a question of far more impor- 
tance to them seems to be. Who shall hold the fat- 
test office, or whether Massachusetts or South Caro- 
lina is in the right on the subject of the imprison- 
ment of a few citizens, belonging to the former, 
by the latter; while they witness all around, and 
in the very midst of them, Popish priests and 
bishops persecuting their fellow-citizens abroad, and 
gnaAving at their very vitals at home. Fatal delu- 
sion this on the part of our government and people ! 

I have accused the Pvomish church and her priests 
of treachery, prevarication, and fraud, in all their 
dealings with Protestants. Their guilt has been 
established by proofs and ev^idences such as they 
cannot deny, viz., the canons of their church and 
their own admission. There is not a people in the 
world more anxious for correct information on all 
subjects than Americans ; and it is, therefore, the 
more singular that they should be so indifferent to 
the all-important subject of Popery. 

This, however, may be accounted for,*in some 
measure. The moral monstrosities — if I may use 
such language — of Popery, are such, that it requires 
something more than ordinary faith to believe them, 
and a greater power of vision than generally falls to 
the lot of man, even to look at them. There are 
objects on which the human eye cannot rest with- 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 201 

out blinking, and upon which nothing but force or 
fear can induce it to fix its gaze for any length of 
time. It will always gladly turn from them, and 
rest upon something else. This may account for 
the fact that my adopted countrymen and fellow 
Protestants pay so little attention to the subject of 
Popery, or the hideous crimes and revolting deeds 
which it has ever taught, and its priests have ever 
practised. 

I cannot otherwise account for the apparent in- 
difference and unconcern of our government and 
people on the subject of our relations with Catholic 
countries, and the encouragement given to Popish 
emissaries in the United States. I have myself seen 
so much of Popery, that my mind shrinks from the 
further contemplation of its iniquities. I can assure 
my Protestant friends, that nothing but an inherent 
love of liberty, and a desire, as far as in my power, 
to ward off that blow which I see Popery treacher- 
ously aiming at Protestants and the Protestant re- 
ligion in the United States, could ever have induced 
me to publish these pages ; and, although I feel that 
I have already drawn too heavily on the indulgence 
of my readers, I cannot dismiss the subject without 
laying before them another evidence of Popish 
treachery, which occurred only a few weeks ago, 
on the island of Tahiti. 

It seems that in 1822, or thereabouts, an indi- 
vidual, named M. Moerenhout, representing him- 
self a native of Belgium, arrived in Valparaiso, and 
obtained a situation as clerk from Mr. Duester, the 
Dutch consul in that city. After some time, he 
gains the confidence of his employer, on whom, to- 
gether with two more merchants, he prevailed to 
charter a vessel, and send a cargo by her to the So- 
ciety Islands, with himself as supercargo. They 



202 SYNOPSIS OF POPERYj 

did SO accordingly in 1829, and the worthy super- 
cargo appropriated to his own use the whole profits 
of the voyage, and continued for some time longer 
upon the island, selling whisky, brandy, and other 
liquors. In 1834, (says the Q,uarteily Review, from 
which, together with other sources, I derived my 
information,) this gentleman departed for Europe, 
with a view of communicating with the French 
government ; or rather, as I am informed upon good 
authority, to confer with the order of Jesuits in that 
country. On his way to Europe, this Moerenhout 
came to the United States, obtained some letters of 
introduction in New York and Boston, with which 
he proceeded to Washington ; and on the strength 
of them, was appointed United States' consul for 
Tahiti. With the title of consul-general of theUnited 
States, this diplomatist proceeds to France, and im- 
mediately — no doubt according to previous arrange- 
ment — entered into all the plans of the Jesuits for 
the extirpation of Protestantism in the Society 
Islands. He became the agent of the Propaganda 
in France, an institution placed under the patron- 
age of St. Xavier. The duty of converting all 
the islands of the Pacific, from the South to the 
North Pole, is committed to this Propaganda, and a 
decretal to that effect was confirmed by the Pope on 
the 22d June, 1823. K bishop was appointed for 
Eastern Oceania, and several priests preceded him 
to the islands. Among these priests was an Irish 
catechist^ by the name of Murphy. The bishop, it 
seems, established himself at Valparaiso, while the 
priests proceeded to Tahiti. 

I here give an instance of the manner in which 
those Popish m.issionaries discharge their duties. You 
will find it the October number of the Foreign (Quar- 
terly Review. You may rely upon the statement. 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 203 

The Popish missionaries have acted in the case just 
as I should have done myself when a Romish priest, 
in obedience to the instructions given by the infal- 
lible church. 

'-'• I always bear about me," says the reverend 
Jesuit, Patailon, ^'a flask of holy water and another 
of perfume. I pour a little of the latter upon the 
child, and then, whilst its another holds it out 
without suspicion^ I change the flasks and sprinkle 
the water that regenerates^ unknown to any one but 
myself." This is what the holy church calls a 
pious fraud ; and this is what the priests of Boston 
are doing, in a little different manner, to the chil- 
dren of Protestant mothers. In Tahiti, Popish 
priests make Christians by jugglery, under the very 
eye of the mother. In the United States they make 
Christians of Protestant children by ordering their 
Catholic nurses to bring them secretly to the priest's 
house to be baptized. 

But let us resume the subject of the Jesuit mis- 
sionaries from the Propaganda in France to Tahiti. 
The Jesuits, always wary and cautious, deemed it 
necessary, before they landed upon the island in a 
body, to send one of their number in advance, in 
order to ascertain ^' how the land lay," and what 
their prospects of success were ; and accordingly, 
in 1836, the Irish Jesuit^ Murphy^ proceeded alone, 
disguised as a carpenter, and landed safely at a place 
called Papeete. The unsuspecting inhabitants re- 
ceived the scoundrel among them just as Ameri- 
cans receive Jesuits in this country ; and while he 
was acting the traitor, and clandestinely writing 
to Jesuits, they shared with him the hospitality 
of their tables — precisely as Americans have done, 
for the last fifty years, to other Murphies^ in this 
country. 



204 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

During this whole time that Mnrphy was on the 
island, working as a carpenter, he had secret in- 
terviews with the American consul, Moerenhout, 
until he succeeded in bringing into the island his 
brother missionaries. They could not, however, 
remain on the island without permission from the 
queen, and the payment of a certain sum of money. 
The queen refused them permission to remain, un- 
der any circumstances, fearing, as she well might, 
that some treason was contemplated against her 
government. The Jesuits called a meeting, and, 
under the patronage of the American consul, they 
urged their demand to remain, comparing them- 
selves to St. Peter, and the Protestants to St. 
Simon, the magician. I use the language of the 
(Quarterly. 

I must here observe, in justice to our government, 
that the conduct of Moerenhout, United States' 
consul at Tahiti, was promptly disavowed, and he 
was immediately removed from office. But, not- 
withstanding the improper interference of the 
American consul, they were ordered to leave the 
island. It is due to the Protestant missionaries 
to state, that they took no part whatever in the 
expulsion of these Jesuits ; nor could they, in 
justice to themselves or to the cause of morality, 
interfere in preventing it. A French writer, 
speaking of the occupation of Tahiti, says : ^* The 
Catholic priests, instead of going to civilize bar- 
barous nations and checking debauchery, seem, 
on the contrary, only desirous of becoming rivals 
to the Protestant ministers, and decoying away 
their proselytes." As soon as the expelled Jesuits 
arrived in France, one of them proceeded to Rome, 
to consult with his holiness the Pope ; the result 
of which was, an immediate order to a French 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 205 

captain, named Dupetit Thouars, who was then 
stationed at Valparaiso, to proceed to Tahiti, and de- 
mand reparation for a supposed indignity to France. 

Here we see the influence of the Pope, and 
an evidence of Jesuit intrigue. In what consisted 
the alleged indignity to France ? Had not the 
queen of Tahiti the right to receive or refuse those 
Jesuit missionaries, if she had evidence that they 
were spies among her people ? If it appeared clear 
to her that the object of those reverend intriguers' 
visit was only to overthrow her government, and 
to decoy away from the path of virtue and re- 
ligion both herself and her subjects, what right 
had Louis Phillippe or the French government to 
look upon this as an indignity to the French na- 
tion ? The fact is, if the whole truth were known, 
Louis Phillippe knew but little of this affair, and 
his minister for foreign aff*airs, or some other mem- 
ber of his cabinet, was either imposed upon or 
bribed by Jesuits. 

A statement of the difficulties, into which the 
hitherto peaceful island of Tahiti has been thrown 
by Jesuits, could not fail to be interesting to my 
readers ; but, as the whole affair is to be found in 
the Foreign Quarterly, I refer the public to that 
work. I cannot, however, dismiss the subject, 
without asking the reader's particular attention to 
the Irish Jesuit^ Murphy^ who figures so con- 
spicuously in the transaction. A brief view of the 
conduct of this reverend spy cannot fail to have a 
good eff'ect, and must tend greatly to remove that 
delusion under which the Protestants of the United 
States have so long labored. 

I have been recently conversing with a very intel- 
ligent member of the Massachusetts legislature, on 
the subject of Jesuitical intrigue. I stated to him 
18 



206 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY; 

that it was a common practice among them, ever 
since the formation of that societj^, to keep spies in 
all Protestant countries, under various disguises and 
in different occupations. But though I had given 
him such proofs' as could scarcely fail to satisfy any 
man, yet he replied, as American Protestants gen- 
erally do, on all such occasions, ^' Those iz7nes are 
gone by. The Ro^nish church is not at all noiv^ 
lohatit was in the days you speak of^ But, when 
the fact was made plain to him — when he learned 
from authority, admitting of no doubt, that only a 
i^'^ weeks ago, a Jesuit, and an Irishman too, crept 
into Tahiti in the disguise of a carpenter, and con- 
tinued to work there, in that character, until he laid 
a proper foundation for the overthrow of the Protes- 
tant religion on that island, his incredulity seemed 
to vanish ; the cloud, which so long darkened his 
vision, evaporated into thin air; and my impression 
is, that he no longer thinks our country safe, unless 
something is done to exclude forever all Papists, 
without distinction, from any participation in the 
making and administration of our laws. 

This Murphy^ to whom allusion is made, ap- 
peared m great distress when he arrived among the 
natives of Tahiti. He seemed entirely indiiferent 
upon the subject of religion ; all he wanted, appar^ 
ently, was employment. This was procured for him 
among the simple natives by the American consul^ 
both of whom soon united themselves together, ac- 
cording to some previous arrangement ; and, while 
they were ^^ breaking bread " with the natives^ they 
were laying plans for their destruction. A blow was 
aimed at their national and moral existence, and the 
death of both has nearly been the result. Thus we 
see a harmless and inoffensive people, only just res- 
cued from a savage state by the laudable efforts of 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 207 

Protestant missionaries, partly thrown back again 
into their original condition by infidel Popish priests, 
whose '^ god is their belly," whose religion is alle- 
giance to their king, the Pope, and whose sports 
and pastimes consist in debauching the good and 
virtuous of every country. 

The flourishing condition of Tahiti, before the 
Jesuits found access to it, is well known in this 
country. Peace, plenty, and religion flourished 
among its people — all produced by the eff'orts of our 
Protestant missionaries. But what sad changes have 
Jesuits efl'ected among them ! By their intrigues 
they have caused a difficulty between Tahiti and 
France. The French government fancied itself 
insulted; false representations were made by the 
Jesuits; and, with the aid of their brethren in 
France, the government was deceived and the isl- 
and blockaded, until reparation was made by the 
inoffensive queen, Pomare. I will quote an in- 
stance of the conduct of the French — all Roman 
Catholics^ and under the advice of Jesuits — after 
they entered Tahiti. It is taken from the Foreign 
Quarterly Review of October, and not denied by 
the French themselves. 

^^ After persuading four chiefs, who were author- 
ized to act in the absence of the queen, to affix their 
names to a document, asking ' French protection,' 
a boat was sent by the French captain, Dupetit 
Thouars, to a place called Eimeo, with ^ perernptori/ 
order for queen Pomare to sign it within twenty- 
four hours. 

^' It was evening before the boat reached the place 
whither Pomare had retired with her family. Her 
situation was one in which it is the custom for wo- 
men to receive the most anxious and respectful at- 
tention from all of the opposite sex, especially if 



208 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

they call themselves gentlemen. She was every 
moment expected to give bu'th to a child ; and, ac- 
cording to custom, had come to lie-in at Eimeo, 
leaving Paraita, who basely betrayed his trust, re- 
gent in her absence. On learning the demand made 
by Thouars, the queen, surprised and alarmed, sent 
for Mr. Simpson, the missionary of the island, and 
a long and painful consultation ensued. Armed re- 
sistance was obviously impossible. The only al- 
ternative was between dethronement and protection. 
Pomare at first determined to choose the former, 
but her friends pressing round her, represented that 
Great Britain, the court of appeal whither all the 
grievances of the world are carried for redress, 
would certainly interfere ; that subjection would be 
but temporary, and that she would ultimately tri- 
umph. Stretched on her couch, in the first pangs 
of labor, the unfortunate queen withstood all sup- 
plications until near morning. Mr. Simpson ob- 
serves, that this was indeed ^ a night of tears.' 
Many hours were passed in silence, interrupted only 
by the sobs of the suffering Pomare. 

^^ Let us leave her for a while, and turn to consider 
in what manner the French buccaneer and his crew 
passed the same night. We refer to no inimical 
statement. Our authority is a letter which went 
the round of all the Paris papers, written by an of- 
ficer on board the Reine Blanche, who did not seem 
to perceive any thing at all immoral in what he re- 
lated. His intention was merely to excite the envy 
of his fellow-countrymen by detailing the delights 
that were to be found in the new Cythera of Bou- 
gainville. We dare not follow him into his details. 
It will be enough to state that more than a hundred 
women were enticed on board the ship, and there 
compelled to remain all night, under pretence that 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 209 

it would be dangerous to row them back in the dark. 
Some were taken to the officers' cabin, others Avere 
sent to the youthful midshipmen, the rest to the 
crew. When this account made its appearance, the 
government, alarmed at the effect it might produce, 
published an official declaration in the ' Moniteur,' 
(30 Mars,) addressed to ^French mothers,' deny- 
ing the truth of the statement. But M. Guizot, or 
whoever directed this disavowal, merely argued 
from* the silence of his own despatches — if they 
were silent — and not long before, in the voyage of 
Dumont d'Urville, published by royal 'ordon- 
nance,' a description of conduct, still more atro- 
cious, had been given to the world. 

'^ Towards morning, the sufferings of Pomare in- 
creasing, her resolution began to fail her, and at 
length she signed the fatal document. Then burst- 
ing into a jlood of tears, she took her eldest son, 
aged six years, in her arms, and exclaimed, ' My 
child, my child, I have signed away your birth- 
right ! ' In another hour, with almost indescriba- 
ble pangs, she was delivered of her fourth child. 
Meanwhile the boat which carried the news of her 
yielding, sped for the port of Papeete. The sea 
was rough, and the wind threatened every moment 
to shift. The white sail was beheld afar off by the 
look-out on the mast of the Reine Blanche, and it 
was thought impossible she could reach by the ap- 
pointed time. Thouars, however, troubled himself 
but little about all these things. He was fixed in 
his resolve, that if the answer did not arrive before 
twelve he would bombard Papeete. The guns 
were loaded, gun-boats stationed along the shore ; 
and whilst the frightened inhabitants crowded down 
to the beach, beseeching, with uplifted hands, that 
their dwellings might be spared, the ruthless pirate, 
18^ 



210 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

bearing the commission of the king of France, was 
giving his orders, and burning to emulate the ex- 
ploits of Stopford and Napier at St. Jean d'Acre, 
by destroying a few white-washed cottages on the 
shore of a little island in the Pacific. Hero ! wor- 
thy the grand cross of the legion of honor which 
was bestowed on him for this achievement ! Worthy 
the sword raised by farthing subscriptions among 
' haters of the English,' which was presented to 
him for so distinguished an exploit ! What exulta- 
tion must have filled his breast as he beheld the 
white sail of the boat scud for a moment past the 
entrance of the port ; and what sorrow, when, by a 
skilful tack, it bore manfully along the very skirts 
of the breakers, and rushed through the hissing and 
boiling waters into the placid bay of Papeete, ex- 
actly one half hour before mid-day ! 

" We must pass rapidly over the arrangements 
which followed. The treaty of protection pro- 
fessed to secure the external sovereignty to the 
French, but to leave the internal to the queen. 
The former, however, were empowered ' to take 
whatever measures they might judge necessary for 
the preservation of harmony and peace.' When 
we learn that the ever recurring M. Moerenhout was 
appointed royal commissioner to carry out this 
treaty, we at once perceive that Pomare had in re- 
ality ceased to reign. How this base person em- 
ployed his power may be discovered from the fact, 
that it became his constant habit, when he desired 
to obtain the signature of the queen to any distaste- 
ful document, to vituperate her in the lowest lan- 
guage, and shake his fist in her face. 

'^ It has been asserted, in this country and else- 
where, that the passive resistance of the queen and 
people to the proper establishment of the protecto- 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 211 

rate, did not begin until the arrival of Mr. Pritch- 
ard on the 25th of February, 1843. The object 
of this has been to attribute all the subsequent dif- 
ficulties experienced by the French to him. But 
the fact is well known, that before he made his ap- 
pearance the queen had written to the principal 
European powers, stating that she had been com- 
pelled against her will to accept the protectorate of 
France. On the 9th of February also, a great pub- 
lic meeting, presided at by the queen, was held, in 
which speeches of the most violent description 
were made. It was resolved, however, that by no 
overt act the French should be furnished with an 
excuse for further arbitrary proceedings. The de- 
termination come to, was to write for the opinion of 
Great Britain. 

'^ The morning after this meeting Moerenhout went 
to the queen and acted in a manner so gross and in- 
sulting, that she determined to complain to Sir 
Thomas Thompson, of the Talbot frigate, who 
promised her protection. All this happened, as we 
have seen, before the arrival of Mr. Pritchard, who, 
in truth, instead of proving a firebrand, introduced 
moderation and caution into the councils of Po- 
mare. Sir Toup Nicolas, it is true, commanding the 
Vindictive, which brought our consul to Tahiti, did 
go so far, despising some of the forms which were 
perhaps necessary, as threaten that unless the 
French ceased to molest British subjects, he would 
use force to compel them. He is said even to have 
cleared for action. When we consider what was 
daily passing under his eyes, there was some ex- 
cuse for this gallant captain's warmth. Setting 
aside the insults offered to our own countrymen, he 
was the spectator of constant tyrannical conduct 
towards the queen. Messrs. Reine and Vrignaud, 



212 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

under whose name all this was done, were but in- 
struments in the hands of the sagacious Moeren- 
hout. The following letter of queen Pomare, 
hitherto, we believe, unpublished, will throw some 
light on his conduct. It is addressed to Toup Nic- 
olas, who took measures to fulfil the wishes it 
contains. 

* Paofae, March 5, 1844. 

' O Commodore, 
'I make known unto you that I have oftentimes 
been troubled by the French consul, and on ac- 
count of his threatening language I have left my 
house. His angry words to me have been very 
strong. I have hitherto only verbally told you of 
his ill-actions towards me ; but now I clearly rfiake 
these known to you, O Commodore, that the French 
consul may not trouble me again. I look to you to 
protect me now at the present time, and you will 
seek the way how to do it. 

' This is my wish, that if M. Moerenhout, and 
all other foreigners, want to come to me, they must 
first make known to me their desire, that they may 
be informed whether it is, or is not, agreeable to 
me to see them. 

' Health and peace to you, 

' O servant of the dueen of Britain, 
(Signed) ' Pomare, 

^ dueen of Tahiti, Mourea, &c. &c.' 

^' During the time that elapsed between the estab- 
lishment of the protectorate and the third visit of 
Dapetit Thouars to Tahiti, the only overt act 
which the French could complain of was the hoist- 
ing of a fancy flag by the queen over her house. 
Whatever difficulties existed at the outset, had been 
in reality overcome in spite of the ^ intriguing Mr. 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 213 

Pritchard.' Even M. Guizot has declared in his 
place in the chamber of deputies : * There existed 
on the admiral's arrival none of those difficulties 
which are not to be surmounted by good conduct, 
by prudence, by perseverance, by time, or which 
require the immediate application of force' Nev- 
ertheless, on the first of November, 1843, our buc- 
caneering admiral entered the harbor of Papeete, 
and wrote immediately to inform the queen that 
unless she pulled down the flag she had hoisted, he 
would do so for her, and at the same time depose 
her. In spite of his threats, however, she refused 
compliance ; and Lieutenant D'Aubigny landed at 
the head of five hundred men, to occupy the island. 
The speech in which this person inaugurated French 
dominion in Tahiti was one of the richest speci- 
mens of bombast and braggadocia ever uttered. 

^' Milch merriment might be excited by its repeti- 
tion, but it has already caused the sides of Europe 
to ache, more than once. Suffice it to say, that the 
deposed queen fled on board the Biitish ship of 
war, the Dublin, commanded by Capt. Tucker, and 
Papeete was, for many days, like a town takei] by 
storm. Drunkenness, debauchery, rioting, filled its 
streets, and every means were taken to undo what 
the missionaries had, by half a century's labor, 
accomplished." 

The above is another melancholy evidence of 
the spirit of Popery ; and if any thing can open the 
eyes of our people to a sense of danger from it, this 
evidence cannot fail to do so. I lay it down as a 
truth — though I may be censured for the boldness 
of such an assertion — that there is not a man of 
common sense, or ordinary penetration, who does 
not see, at a glance, that our danger as a nation, 
and our morals as a people, are eminently perilled 



214 SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 

bjL-the continuance of Popery amongst us. There 
are certain truths which need not be proved ; they 
prove themselves. Like the sun, which is seen by 
its own light, they carry with them their own evi- 
dence ; and, among those self-evident truths, I see 
none more clear or more lucid, than that Popery, 
which has taken root in this country, will — if not 
torn up and totally uprooted before long — dash to 
pieces the whole frame of our republic. S]fonpa- 
thizers, Puseyites, and all other such bastard Prot- 
estants, may think differently. Be it so. Valueless 
as my opinion may be, let it be herein recorded, that^ 
I entirely disagree with them. 

It seems that another speck of Popery is just 
making its appearance on the north-west horizon of 
our national firmament. It appears, by accounts 
very recently received from Oregon, that the Prop- 
aganda in Rome has sent out a company of Jesuits 
and nuns to that territory. Popish priests and 
Jesuits seldom travel without being accompanied by 
nuns : they add greatly to their comforts while on 
their pilgrimage for the advancement of morality 
and chastity. Hitherto the occupants of Oregon 
have advanced quietly. They have adopted a 
temporary form of government, established courts 
of law, and such municipal regulations as they 
deemed best calculated to forward their common 
interest. But the modern serpent^ Jesuitism, has 
already entered their garden : the tree of Popery 
has been planted : it is now in blossom, and w^ill 
soon be seen in full bearing. It is truly a melan- 
choly refiection to think that this pest^ Popery, 
should find access to all places and to all people. 
One year will not pass over us, before the aspect 
of things in Oregon will be entirely changed. 
These Jesuits who arrived there have been pre- 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 215 

ceded by some Popish spy — somQ reverend Irish 
Murphy, in thiS capacity of carpenter^ or perhaj)S 
horse-jockey, has gone before them, and has been 
laying plans for their reception. I venture to say, 
it will be discovered, at no distant day, that all the 
good which our Protestant missionaries have done 
lhe\'Q will soon be undone by Popish agents. They 
will commence, as they have done in Tahiti, by 
causing some panic among the resident settlers. 
They will find in Oregon, as well as in our United 
States, some functionary who may want their aid ; 
and he, like many of the unprincipled functionaries 
among ourselves, will give them his patronage in ex- 
change. 

Liberty has, in reality, but few votaries among 
oflficeholders, in comparison with Popery ; and this 
is one of the chief causes of the great advances 
which the latter is making, and has been making, 
especially for the last six or eight years. Look 
around you, fellow-citizens, and you will scarcely 
find an individual in office, from the President to 
the lowest office-holder, possessed of sufficient moral 
courage to raise his voice against Popery. But jus- 
tice to Anjericans requires me to say, that in this the 
groat mass of the people are without blame — for ] 
cannot call certain leading, unprincipled [)oliticians, 
the people. The first steps which foreign priests 
and Jesuits have taken, in disturbing the harmony 
of our republican system of government, might have 
been easily checked ; but those who have repre- 
sented the people, and who held offices of honor 
and emolument, were not, and will not be, disturb- 
ed by a moment's reflection on a pro[ier sense of 
their duty. The whole responsibility of the gross 
outrages offered to our Protestant country, by Popish 
pries's and Papal allies, rests upon our representa- 
tives in Congress. They could, if they would, have 



216 SYNOPSIS OF POFERr, 

long since checked Popery ; and it is now high 
time that the people should take this matter into 
their own hands, and so alter the constitutions of 
their respective states^ as to exclude Papists from 
any positive or negative participation in the creation 
or execution of their laws. 

Jesuits calculate with great accuracy upon the 
selfishness of man: they know that, generally 
speaking, it is paramount to all other considerations. 
Artful, intriguing, avaricious, and more licentious 
themselves than any other body of men in the 
world, they soon discover all that is vulnerable in 
the American character, and take advantage of it. 
They discover that popular applause is greatly 
coveted by Americans ; and this is the reason why 
we see established among us so many repeal asso- 
ciations. The writer understands that several of 
those associations are now formed in Oregon ; and if 
was at their request that the Pope had sent out 
Jesuits and nuns amongst them. Repeal is looked 
upon as the great lever by which the whole political 
world can be turned upside down. Its members 
meet in large numbers, in order to show the gullible 
Americans the consequent extent of their power^ 
and the great advantage which some officehunter 
may gain by bringing them over to his views. The 
bait has taken well hitherto ; but as we have — sol- 
emnly attested by the sign manual of the Pope him- 
self — seen his object in causing to be established 
repeal societies, the American, who continues here- 
after to encourage them, deserves the execration of 
every lover of freedom. The Pope tells Americans^ 
through his agent, O'Connell, what the design and 
objects of all the movements of Papists in the 
United States are ; and I trust, when Americans 
see them in their true colors, they will sink deeply 
mto their hearts. 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 



2ir 



Hear, then, I entreat you, Americans, the lan- 
guage of O'Connell, as the Pope's agent, as uttered 
by him in the Loyal National Repeal Association m 
Dublin, Ireland. It is addressed to Irish Catholics 
in the United States. Where you have the electoral 
franchise^ give your votes to none hut those who 
will assist you in so holy a struggle. You should 
do all in your power to carry out the pious inten^ 
tions of his holiness the Pope. This is plain lan- 
guage^ there is no misunderstanding it. It is ad- 
dressed to Papists, whether in Oregon or the United 
States, and what are the pious intentions of the 
Pope ? I will tell you. I understand those matters 
probably better than you do. The object is, in the 
first place, to extirpate Protestantism ; and, secondly, 
to overthrow this republican government, and 
place in our executive chair a Popish king. This 
is the sole design of all the ramifications of the va- 
rious repeal clubs throughout the length and breadth 
of the United States and its territories. O'Con- 
nell — the greatest layman living — is the nuncio of 
the Pope for carrying this vast and holy design into 
execution. Will Americans submit to this ? Will 
they again attend repeal associations ? Does not 
every meeting of the repeal party impliedly make 
an assault upon our constitution ? Is not this for- 
eign demagogue endeavoring to pollute our ballot- 
box ? and will you any longer trust an Irish Papist, 
who is the fettered slave of the Pope ? Aye ! a 
greater slave than the African, the Mussulman, or 
the Chinese. Never before was there such a com- 
bination formed for the destruction of American 
liberty, as that of Irish repealers, and never before 
was such an insidious attempt made to pollute the 
morals of the wives and daughters of Americans, as 
that which Jesuits have for years made, and are 
19 



218 



SYNOPSIS OF POPERY, 



now making, by the introduction of priests and nun- 
neries among them. 

Repeal unchains the loud blasts of conspiracy, 
and opens the bloody gates of sedition ; yet this Re- 
peal lives in the very midst of us, I can almost 
hear, while I am writing these lines, the wild 
shouts of its lawless members ; and to the shame 
and everlasting disgrace of Americans, the sons of 
free and noble sires, there are many of them, at 
the very repeal meetings to which I allude, aiding 
and abetting them in aiming their mad and wild 
blows at liberty, while she sleeps sweetly, perhaps 
dreaming that she was safe, with the spirits of 
Washington, Warren, and others, watching over her 
slumbers. Sleep on, fair goddess ! Popish traitors 
cannot, shall not disturb thee. American Republi- 
cans will not let them ; and to you, Protestant for- 
eigners, I would most earnestly appeal. Let us 
stand by those noble patriots. We know what tyr- 
anny is 1 We felt many of its pains and penalties. 
We know what Popery is ! It has desolated our na- 
tive land 1 It has made barren our fairest fields ! It 
has sealed up from our parents, our brothers, sisters, 
and relatives, the eternal fountain of life ! It is 
drunk with the blood of the saints ! It has closed 
against us the gates of liberty ! It has rendered us 
strangers to its blessings, and it was not until we 
landed upon these shores, that we were first per- 
mitted to inhale its fragrance or taste its fruits. 
But now that we enjoy all these blessings, let us 
thank God for them. Let us be grateful to Ameri- 
cans for receiving us among them, and prove by our 
deeds that we are not unworthy of the kind and ' 
hospitable reception which they gave us, by being 
foremost amongst them in resisting and warding off 
the blows which that enemy of mankind, the Pope, 



AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS. 219 

and his foul-mouthed nuncio, Daniel O'Connell, 
with his Irish repealers, are striking at American 
freedom ! They shall not succeed. The slaves of 
a Pope cannot succeed. 

" The sensual and the dark rebel in vain, 
Slaves by their own compulsion ! In mad game 
They burst their manacles, and wear the name 
Of freedom, graven on a heavier chain. 
O Liberty ! with profitless endeavor 
' Have I pursued ttiee many a weary hour ; — 
But thou nor swell'st the victor's strain, nor ever 
Didst breathe thy soul in forms of human power. 
Alike from all, howe'er they praise thee — 
Nor prayer, nor boastful name delays thee — 
Alike from priestcraft's harpy minions. 
And factious blasphemy's obscener slaves, 
Thou speedcst on thy subtle pinions. 

The guide of homeless winds, q,nd playmate of the waves I 
And there I felt thee ! — on that sea-clifTs verge. 
Whose pines, scarce travelled by the breeze above, 
Had made one murmur with the distant surge ; — 
Yea, while I stood and gazed, my temples bare, 
And shot my being through earth, sea, and air, 
Possessing all things with intensest love, 
O Liberty ! my spirit felt thee there I " 






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